IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


1.0 


I.I 


11.25 


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iu  .3.    ■iii 


lAO 


1.4 


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Hiotogiflpbic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


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CIHM/ICMH 

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Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


T 
t( 


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n 

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10X  14X  18X  22X 


y 


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30X 


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16X 


20X 


24X 


28X 


32X 


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conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
vllmage. 

Les  exempiaires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprimAe  sont  fiimAs  en  commenpant 
par  Ie  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  ie 
dernlAra  page  qui  comoorte  une  empreinte 
d'Impression  ou  d'iilustration,  soit  par  ie  second 
plat,  salon  Ie  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exempiaires 
originaux  sont  filmAs  en  commen^ant  par  la 
premlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'Impression  ou  d'iilustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  darnlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboies  suivants  apparattra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  Ie 
cas:  ie  symbols  — ^  signifie  "A  SUiVRE  ",  Ie 
symbols  V  signifie  "FIN". 


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beginning  In  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planchec,  tableaux,  etc..  peuvent  Atre 
filmAs  A  des  taux  de  rAduction  diff Arents. 
Lorsque  Ie  document  est  trop  grand  pout  Atre 
reproduit  en  un  seui  cllchA,  11  est  filmA  A  partir 
de  I'angle  supArleur  gauche,  de  gauche  A  droite. 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  ie  nombre 
d'images  nAcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
iliustrent  la  mAthode. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

wm 


THE 


POLITICAL    PROGRESS 


Of 


BRITAIN ; 


OR,    AN 


IMPARTIAL    HISTORY 


Of 


ABUSES  in  the  GOVERNMENT 


OP   THE 


MiXi^  CmpCte, 


IN 


EUROPE,  ASIA,   AND  AMERICA, 


& 


FROM   THE 

REVOLUTION  IN   1688, 

TO    THE 

PRESENT  TIME. 
The  tubole  tending  to  proi/s  the  ruinous  Confequences  of  the  popular  Syjient 

TAXATION,  WAR,  and  CONQUEST. 


W    THE    world's    mad    BUSI^TfiSS.*' 


i<a  I  iiMid^  <>■■ 


s=r: 


.  PHILADELPHIA: 

PRINTED    FOR    J.    T.   CALLSNPSK. 


•I 


€ 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


X  HE  Firfl  Edition  of  Tkc  Political  Pi ogrc/s  oj  Bnta'in 
was  publilhcd  at  Edinburgh  and  London,  in  Autumn,  jyga. 
The  fale  was  lively,  and  the  profptcl  of  future  fuccefs  flatter- 
ing. The  plan  was,  to  give  an  iuparlial  hifl  jry  of  the  abufcs 
in  government,  in  a  fcrics  of  pam[)!ilets.  But  while  the  au- 
thor was  preparing  for  the  prefs,  a  fecond  number,  along  wiih 
a  new  edition  of  the  firfl:,  he  was,  on  the  2a  of  January,  1793, 
iipprehended,  and  with  fome  difficulty  made  his  efcape.  Two 
b  jokfellers,  who  a6lcd  as  his  editors,  were  profccutcd  ;  and 
after  a  very  arbitrary  trial,  they  were  condemned,  the  one  to 
three,  months,  and  the  other  to  fix  months  of  imprifonment, 
A  revolution  will  take  place  in  Scotland  before  the  Kipfc  of  ten 
years  at  farthefl:,  and  moft  likely  much  fooner.  The  Scots 
nation  will  then  certainly  think  itfelf  bound,  by  every  tic  of 
wifdom,  of  gratitude,  and  of  juflice,  to  make  reparation  to 
thefe  two  honefl  men,  for  the  tyranny  which  they  have  en- 
countered in  the  caufe  of  truth.  In  Britain,  authors  and 
editors  of  pamphlets  have  long  condu6led  the  van  of 
every  revolution.  They  compofe  a  kind  of  forlorn  hope  on 
the  (kirts  of  battle  :  and  though  they  may  often  want  experi- 
ence, or  influence,  to  marfhal  the  main  body,  they  yet  enjoy 
the  honour  and  the  danger  of  the  firft  rank,  in  ftorming  the 
ramparts  of  opprefllon. 

A  copy  of  the  firfl:  edition  was  handed  to  Mr.  JefFerfon, 
late  American  Secretary  of  State.  He  fpoke  of  it,  on  difi^e- 
rent  occafions,  in  lefpedful  terms.  He  faid  that  it  contained 
'*  the  mofl:  afl:onifhing  concentration  of  abufcs  that  he  had 
"  ever  heard  of  in  any  government."  He  inquired,  why  it 
was  not  printed  in  America  ?  and  faid,  that  he,  for  one,  ' 
would  gladly  become  a  purchafer.  Other  gentlemen  have 
delivered  their  opinions  to  the  fame  eflTe^l:  ;  and  their  encou- 
ragement was  one  caufe  for  tht  appearance  of  this  Ameri- 
«ajo  edition. 

The 


,'i 


C    4    ] 

The  work  is  inlcnclcJ  for  tliat  clafs  of  people  who  hai 
not  much  time  to  f'pfind  in  reading,  and  who  wants  a  plain 
but  fiiblhiiitial  meal  of  political  intormaiion.  The  facls  are, 
theicforc,  crowded  together  as  ciofciy  as  polTiblc.  All  the  co- 
quciry  til  atitliorniip  has  been  avoided.  The  ambition  of  th« 
writer  was  to  be  candid,  unaft'c<^ed,  and  intelligible;  be- 
caufc  truth  is  the  balis  of  found  argument,  fimplicity  the  foul 
of  elegance,  and  j^erfpieuity  the  fuprenie  touch-ltone  of  accu- 
rate coippofition. 

A  report  was  circulated,  and  believed,  in  Scotland,  that  this.' 
production  came,  in  reality,  from  the  pen  of  one  of  the  judges 
of  the  court  of  f  ilion.  The  charge  was  unjuiL  His  lordlhip 
did  not  write  a  fmgle  page  of  it  ;  but  he  faid  openly,  that  its 
contents  were  authentic,  and  unanfwerable;  and  that  the  pub- 
lic were  welcome  to  call  if  his. 

For  the  extreme  ralhnefs  of  his  plan,  the  writer  can- 
not olFcr  an  apology  that  prudence  will  accept.  A  fliort  flory 
may,  perhaps  convey  the  motives  of  his  condudl.  In  1758, 
tliL  Duke  ()f  Marlborough,  with  eighteen  thoufand  men  landed 
on  tiic  coaft  of  I  ranee.  The  troops,  when  difembarking,  werft 
oppofed  by  a  French  battery,  which  was  immediately  filenced, 
for  it  conliltcd  only  of  an  old  man,  armed  with  two  mufkets; 
he  was  (liglitly  wounded  in  the  leg,  and  made  prifoner.  The 
Englifii  afked  him,  whether  he  expeeled  that  his  two  mufkets 
were  to  filcncc  the  fire  of  their  fleet  r  *'  Gentlemen,"  he  replied, 
*'  I  have  done  only  my  duty,  and  if  all  my  countrymen  here 
**  had  a£led  like  me,  you  would  not  this  day  have  landed  at 
«'  Concale." 

JAMES  THOMSON  CALLENDER, 
An  Exile  for  vjrit'ing  this  Pamphlet, 

Philadelphia.^  March  %\^   I79S* 


i 


le  who  has 
nts  a  plain 
ic  facls  are. 
All  the  co- 
)ition  of  th« 
igible;  be- 
:ity  the  foul 
)ne  of accu- 

id,  that  this 
f  the  judges 
Ih  lord  (hip 
dy,  that  its 
lat  the  pub- 

I'riter   can- 

fliort  Rorj 

In  1758, 

nen  landed 

king,  weift 

ly  filenced, 

o  mufkets; 

ner.    The 

vo  mufkets 

he  replied, 

ymen  here 

landed  at 

^DER, 


am 


i^hlet. 


INTRODUCTION. 


WITHIN  the  lafl:  hundred  years  of  our  hiftory,  Britain  ha« 
been  five  times  at  war  with  France,  and  fix  times  at  war 
with  Spain.     During  the  fame  period,  fhe  has  been  engaged  in 
two  rebellions  at  home,  befules  an  cndlefs  catalogue  of  mafla- 
cres  in  Afia  and  America.     In  Europe,  the  common  price  which 
Ave  advance  for  a  war,  has  extended  from  one  to  three  hundred 
thoufand  lives,  and  from  fixty  to  an  hundred  »nd  fifty  millions 
fierling.     From  Africa,  we  import  annually  between  thirty  and 
forty  thoufand  (laves,  which  rifes  in  the  courfe  of  a  century  to 
at  lead  three  millions  of  raurthcrs.     In  Bengal  only,  we  de- 
ftroyed  or  expelled,  within  the  fliort  period  of  fix  years,  no  lefs 
than  five  millions  of  induftrious  and  harmlefs  people  *  ;  and  as 
we  have  been  foe  reigns  in  that  country,  for  above  thirty-five 
years,  ic  may  be  reafonably  computed  that  we  have  ftrewed  the 
plains  of  Indoftan  with  fifteen  or  twenty  millions  ofcarcafes. 
If  we  combine  the  diverfified  ravages  of  famine,  peftilence,  and 
the  fword,  it  can  hardly  be  fuppofed,  that  in  thefe  tranfaftions 
lefs  than  fifteen  hundred  thoufand  of  our  countrymen  have  pe- 
Ti(hed  ;  a  number  equal  to  that  of  the  whole  inhabitants  of  Bri- 
tain who  are  at  prefent  able  to  bear  arms.     In  Europe,  the  ha- 
vock  of  our  antagonifts  has  been  at  leaft  not  inferior  to  our  own, 
fo  that  this  quarter  of  the  world  alone  has  loft  by  oui  quarrels, 
three  millions  of  men  in  the  flower  of  life;  whofe  defcendants, 
in  the  progrefs  of  domeftic  fociety,  would  have  fwelled  into 
multitudes  beyond  calculation,  The  perfons  pofitively  deftroyed 
muft,  in  the  whole,  have  exceeded  twenty  millions,  or  two  hun- 
dred thoufand  afts  of  homicide /<»>•  annum,     Thefe  viftims  have 
been  facrificed  to  the  balance  of  power,  and  the  balance  of  trade, 
the  honour  of  the  Briti(h  flag,  theuniverfal  lupremacy  of  par- 


■«•»•■<•«.«>< 


*  hiit^  chap. 


Az 


liaracat. 


[     4     ] 

llamcnti  anvl  the  fcciulty  of  the  ProtcHant  fucccfllon.  If  wc  nte 
to  proceed  at  this  rate  for  another  icntury,  we  ina}',  uhich  is 
natur.il  to  mankiml,  atimire  ourfclvcs,  and  our  atchievcments, 
but  every  other  nation  in  the  worlil  mull  have  a  right  to  wifh 
that  an  earthquake  or  a  volcano  may  firft  hury  both  iflands  to- 
getlier  in  the  centre  of  the  globe  ;  that  a  finglc,  but  decifire  ex- 
ertion of  Almighty  vengeance  m^y  terminate  the  progrcfs  and 
the  remembrance  of  our  crimes. 

In  the  fcalc  of  juft  calculationi  the  jnofl  valuable  commodity,  ^ 
next  to  human  blood,  is  money.     Having  made  a  ^rofs  eltimate 
of  the  dcftruc^ion  of  the  former,  let  us  endeavour  to  compute 
the  confumption  of  the  latter.     The  war  of  i68g  coft  fixty  mil- 
lions of  public  money,  and  at  the  end  of  it,  tjie  public  debts 
Amounted  to  twenty  millions,  or  by  another   account*,  to  be 
feventecn  millions  and  a  half;  fo  that  not  more  than  one  third 
part  of  the  expences  were  borronved^     In  Queen  Anne's  war, 
forty  or  fifty  millions  fterllngwere  alfo  funk  in  the  fame  man- 
ner, befidcs  about  thirty  millions,  which  were  added  to  the 
former  public  debt.     Very  large  fums  have  fince  been  abforbed 
in  other  wars,  over  and  above  thofe  which  were  placed  to  the 
national  credit.     In  1783,  by  the  report  of  the  commiflionera 
of  public  accounts,  the  total  debts  of  Britain  extended  to  two 
hundred   and   fcvcnty-nin«  millions,  fix  hundred  and  ninety- 
eight  thoufand  pounds,  though  mar\y  millions  ha:c  been  paid 
off  in  time  of  peace,  by  what  is  called  the  finking  fund.    Hence 
_  we  fee,  that  this  fum  oi  iiuo  hundred  and  fenjentj-nine  millions  is 
much  inferior  to  the  a(n:ual  charges  c*"  thcfe  wars.     ITic  total 
amount  may  be  fixed  fomewhere  perhaps  between  four  and  fix 
hundred  millions.     To  this  wc  mull  fubjoin  the  value  of  fix- 
teen  or  twenty  thoufand  merchant  (hips  taken  by  the  enemy, 
.  This  diminutive  article  of  fixty  or  an  hundre4  millions  would 
have  been  fufiicient  for  tranfporting  and  fettling  eight  or  twelve 
hundred  thoufand  farmers,  with  their  families,  on  the  banks  of 
the  Potownaack  or  the  Mifliflipi,     By  the  report  above  quoted, 
we  learn,  that  in  1783,  the  intcrcfl:  of  our  public  debts  ex- 


Memoirs  of  Britain  and  Ireland,  vol,  ii. 


fended 


m 


Fwc  arc 
hich  is 
cments, 
to  wi(h 
inds  to- 

flTC  C3t- 

cfs  and 

moditr.  \ 
;(tiniate 
omputc 
cty  mil- 
c  debts 
S  to  be 
nc  third 
:*s  war, 
me  man- 
to  the 
bforbcd 
to  the 
iflioners 
to  two 
ninety- 
;en  paid 
Hence 
il/ions  is 
ic  total 
and  fix 
of  fix- 
enemy, 
s  would 
twelve 
anks  of 
quoted, 
:bts  ex- 


Icndcd 


f 


,  [     5     ] 

tended  to  nine  millions,  and  five  hundred  thoufand  pounds, 
which  is  cqiiivalt-nt  to  an  annual  tax  of  twenty  fhillings  />ir 
head,  on  every  inhabitant  of  Britain.  The  friends  of  our  intel- 
ligent and  rcfpectable  minifler,  Mr.  Pitt,  make  an  infinite  bullle 
about  the  nine  millions  ol  debt  which  his  in^'.ei.uity  has  dif- 
charged.  They  ought  to  arrange,  in  an  oppofite  column,  a  lid 
of  the  additional  taxes  which  have  been  hue  )Ilu,  and  of  the 
myriails  of  families,  whom  fur.li  nxe/,  have  ruined.  At  boft, 
we  are  but  as  a  perfon  transferring  his  nv:;fy  i  'ii'  the  right 
pocket  to  the  lefr.  Perhaps  a  Chancellir  of  the  Exchequer 
might  as  well  propofe  to  empty  the  Baltick  with  a  tobacco- 
pijxr.  Had  the  war  with  America  lallcd  for  two  years  longer, 
Britain  would  not  at  this  day  have  owed  a  (hilling;  and  if  we 
(hall  perfift  in  rufliing  into  carnage,  with  our  former  contempt 
of  all  feeling  and  retkftion,  it  may  ilill  be  expeded  that,  ac- 
cording to  the  pradice  of  crther  nations,  a  fpongc  or  a  bonfire 
will  finifli  the  game  of  funding. 

What  advantage  has  refulted  to  Britain  from  fuch  inccflant 
fcenes  of  prodigality  and  of  bloodfiicd  ?  In  the  wars  of  1689, 
and  1702,  this  country  was  neither  more  nor  lefsthan  an  hobby 
horfe  for  the  Emperor  and  the  Dutch.  The  rebellion  in  171  r 
was  excited  by  the  defpotic  infold 'j  jf  the  Whigs.  The  pur- 
t  hafc  of  Bremen  and  Verden  produced  the  Spanifli  war  of  i )  1 8, 
and  a  fquadron  difpatched  for  fix  different  years  to  the  Baltick, 
Such  exertions  coft  us  an  hundred  times  more  than  thefc  quag- 
mire Dutchics  are  worth,  even  to  the  Eleftor  of  Hanover;  a 
diftindion  which  on  this  bufinefs  becovies  neccffary,  for  as  to 
Britain,  it  was  never  pretended,  that  we  could  gain  a  farthing 
by  fuch  an acquifition.  In  1727,  the  nation  forced  George  the 
Firft  into  a  war  with  Spain,  which  ended  as  ufual  with  much 
mifchief  on  both  fides.  The  Spanilh  war  of  the  people  in 
1739,  and  the  Auftrian  fubfidy  war  of  th;;  crown,  which  com- 
menced in  1741,  were  abfurd  in  their  principles,  and  ruinous 
in  their  confequences.  At  fea,  we  met  with  nothing  but  hard 
blows.  On  the  continent,  we  began  by  hiring  the  Queen  of 
Hungary  to  fight  her  own  battles  againft  the  King  of  Pruffia ; 
pad  ten  years  after  the  war  ended,  we  hired  the  King  of  Pruffia 

with 


'I 


I    6    ] 

With  fix  hunJrcil  and  fcventy-one  thoiifaiul  pounds  />ff  anvuirit 
to  fight  liis  own  battles  againft  her.  If  this  be  not  folly,  u  hat 
lire  we  to  call  it  ?  As  to  the  quarrel  of  17^41  "  It  was  rc- 
"  marked  by  all  Europe,"  fays  Frederick,  •«  that  in  her  difputc 
«'  with  France,  every  lurong  Jii-p  ivas  on  the  fide  of  Engltind,'* 
By  nine  years  of  butchery,  and  an  additional  debt  of  feventy 
millions  ftcrling,  we  fecured  Canada  ;  but  had  Wolfe  and  hia 
army  been  driven  from  the  heights  of  Abraham,  our  grandfons 
might  have  come  too  early  to  hear  of  an  American  revolution* 
As  tL  this  event,  the  circumftanccs  arc  too  (hocking  for  reflect 
tion.  At  that  time  an  Englifli  woman  ha.d  difcovcred  a  remedy 
for  the  canine  madnefs,  and  Frederick  advifes  a  French  cor- 
refpondent  to  recommend  this  medicine  to  the  itfe  of  the  Parliament 
ftf  "England^  as  they  mttji  certainh  have  been  bitten  by  a  mad  dog. 

In  the  quarrels  of  the  Continent  we  (hould  concern  ourfelvcs 
but  little  ;  for  in  a  dcfenfivc  war,  we  may  fafely  defy  all  the 
nations  of  Europe.  When  the  whole  civilized  world  was  em- 
bodied under  the  banners  of  Rome*  her  Didator,  at  the  head  of 
thirty  thoufand  veterans,  difembarked  for  a  fecond  tune  on  the 
coaft  of  Britain.  The  face  of  the  country  was  covered  with  a 
foreft,  and  the  folitary  tribes  were  divided  upon  the  old  quef* 
tion,  Whojhall  be  king  ?  The  ifland  could  hardly  have  attained 
to  a  twentieth  part  of  its  prefcnt  population,  yet  by  his  own 
nccount,  the  invader  found  a  retreat  prudent,  or  perhaps  necef- 
fary.  South  Britain  was  afterwards  fubjefted,  but  this  acquifi- 
tion  was  the  talk  of  centuries.  Every  village  was  bought  with 
the  blood  of  the  legions.  We  may  confide  in  the  moderation 
of  a  Roman  Hiftorian,  when  he  is  to  defcribe  the  difafters  of 
his  countrymen.  In  a  fingle  revolt,  eighty  thoufand  of  the 
pfurpers  were  extirpated  ;  and  fifty,  ori  as  others  affirm,  feventy 
thoufand  foldiers  perilhed  in  the  courfe  of  a  Caledoniar  cam- 
j)aign.  Do  the  n^afters  of  modern  Europe  underftand  the  art  of 
war  better  than  Severus,  and  Agricola,  and  Julius  Cxfar  ?  Is 
pny  combination  of  human  poi^'er  to  be  coniparcd  with  the  ta- 
lents and  refouroes  of  the  Roman  empire  ?  If  our  naked  an- 
ceftors  refilled  and  vanquifhed  tlv:  conquerors  of  the  fpeciesj 
what  have  we  to  fear  ffora  an^^  ;wita^omft  gf  this  ^7  •    O"  ^'^ 

iiionthj 


m 


^fv  anvumt 
i)lly,  what 
It  was  re- 
\ct  difputc 
England,'* 
of  fevcnty 
fc  and  Ilia 

grandfons 
revolution, 
for  reflec* 
1  a  remedy 
rcnch  cor- 
Parliament 
mad  dog, 
1  ourfelvcs 
efy  all  the 
Id  was  em- 
he  head  of 
inie  on  the 
red  with  a 
:  old  quef* 
ve  attained 
y  his  own 
laps  nccef- 
lis  acqulfi- 
3Ught  with 
node  ration 
difafters  of 
md  of  the 
m,  feventy 
tniar  cam- 
1  the  art  of 
'aefar  ?  Is 
ith  the  ta- 

naked  an-> 
he  fpeciesi 
'  On  fix 
months 


i 


I 


^H 


f     7     } 

Tttonthi  warning  we  coiild  mufter  ten  or  twelve  hundtcd  thou- 
fand  militia.  Yet,  while  the  dcfpots  of  Germany  were  fight- 
ing about  :i  In^urb,  the  nation  lias  condcTcendcd  to  tremble  fof 
its  CAidcncc,  and  the  blolfoms  of  domclHc  happinefs  have  been 
hl.illcd  by  fulifirics,  ami  tidi"-w;\itcrs,  and  prcfs-gangs,  and  ex 
tiromen.  Our  p'  litical  niid  coinnKrcial  fyftcms  arc  evidently 
nonrcnft*.  We  pufiofs  within  this  fingle  ifland,  every  produc- 
tion, both  of  art  and  nature,  which  is  neccffiiry  for  the  moft 
comfortable  enjoyment  of  life  ;  )ct  for  the  fake  of  tea,  and  Tu- 
gar,  and  tobacco,  and  a  few  otlicr  lirlpicable  luxuric^»  ue  have 
ruOicd  into  an  abyfs  of  blood  and  taxt'^.  'Jhe  boallcd  extent  of 
our  trade,  and  the  ijuarrcls  and  puhlir  dibts  which  attend  it, 
have  raifed  the  price  of  bread,  and  even  of  grafs,  at  Icall  three 
Hundred  per  cmt. 

This  pamphlet  confifts  not  of  fluent  declamation,  but  of  curious 
authenticated  and  important  fads,  with  a  few  fliort  obfcrvations 
interfperfed,  which  feemcd  ncccifary  to  explain  them.  The 
reader  will  meet  with  no  mournful  periods  to  the  memory  of 
annual  or  /r/<r««/fl/ parliaments ;  for  while  the  members  are  men 
fuch  as  their  predeccflbrs  have  almoft  always  been,  it  is  but  of 
fmall  concern  whether  they  hold  their  places  for  life,  or  but  for 
a  fingle  day.  Some  of  our  projetlors  are  of  opinion,  that  to 
ihortcn  the  duration  of  parliament  would  be  an  ample  remedy 
for  all  our  grievances.  The  advantages  of  a  popular  election 
have  likewife  been  much  extolled.  Yet  an  acquaintance  w  ith 
Thucydides,  or  Plutarch,  or  Guicciardini,  or  Machiavel,  may 
tend  to  calm  the  raptures  of  a  republican  apoftlc.  The  plan  of 
nniverfal  fuffrages  has  been  loudly  recommended  by  the  Duke 
of  Richmond  ;  and,  on  the  i6th  of  May  1782,  that  nobleman, 
feconded  by  Mr.  Home  Tooke,  and  Mr.  Pitt,  was  fitting  in  a 
tavern,  compofiug  advertifementsx)f  reformation  for  the  ncwf- 
papers.  Mutantub  Tempora.  But  had  his  plan  been 
adopted,  it  is  poflible  that  we  (hould  at  this  day,  have  looked 
back  with  regret,  on  the  humiliating  yet  tranquil  defpotifm  of 
ft  Scots,  or  a  Cornifli  borough. 

The  ftyle  of  this  work  is  concife  and  plain ;  and  it  is  hoped 
tjiat  it  wiU  be  found- /ufficicntly  refpcftfyl  to  all  parties.    The 

qucftion 


I    8    ] 

tjueftlon  to  be  decided  is)  are  we  to  procbed  with  the  war  fyftcm  ? 
Are  wc,  in  the  progrefs  of  the  nineteenth  century,  to  embrace 
five  thovifand  frelh  taxes,  to  fquander  a  fecond  five  hundred 
saillions  llerling)  and  to  extirpate  twenty  milliom  of  pc6pie  ? 


ii'u:'  .; 


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THE 


POLITICAL    PROGRESS 


O    F 


BRITAIN. 


CHAPTER     I. 


Dutch  provvefs)  Danilli  wit,  and  Britllh  polIcy> 

Great  NOTHING  !  mainly  tend  to  thee.         Rochester. 

THE  people  of  Scotland  are,  on  all  occafions,  foolifh  enough 
to  intereft  themfelves  in  the  good  c  -  bad  fortune  of  an 
Englifh  niiniftcr;  though  it  does  not  appear  that  we  have  more 
influence  with  fuch  a  luinifter,  than  with  the  cabinet  of  japan. 
To  England  we  were  for  many  centuries  a  lioftile,  and  we  are 
ftill  confidered  by  chem  as  a  foreign,  and  in  efFeft  a  conquered 
nation.  It  is  true,  that  we  eleft  very  near  a  twelfth  part  of  the 
Britifh  Houfe  of  Commons;  but  our  reprefentarivcs  have  no 
title  to  vote,  or  aft  in  a  feparate  body.  Every  ftatute  proceeds 
upon  the  majority  of  tiie  voices  of  the  whole  compound  aflem- 
bly  :  What,  therefore,  can  forty-five  perfons  accomplifh,  when 
oppofed  to  five  hundred  and  thirte'  ?  They  feel  the  total  in- 
fignificancc  of  their  fituation,  and  beliave  accordingly.  An 
equal  number  of  elbow  chairs;  placed  once  for  all  on  the  minif- 
terial  benches,  would  be  lefs  expenfive  to  government,  and  jufl 
about  as  raanagezble.  I  call  thefe,  and  every  minifterial  tool  of 
the  fame  kind,  expenfive,  becaufe  thofe  who  are  obliged  to 


t 


i   . 


[    .0    ]  •     •• 

l^uy,  mufl  be  undenlood  to  /■//*;  and  thofe  who  range  them- 
felves  unicr  the  banners  of  oppofition,  can  only  be  confidered, 
as  having  rated  their  roices  too  high  for  a  purchafer  in  the  par- 
liamentary audtlon  f . 

There  is  a  fafhionable  phfafe,  the  politics  of  the  county^  wh^'clt 
I  can  never  hear  pronounced  without  a  gUnv  of  indignation  ; 
compared  with  fuch  politics,  even  pimping  is  refpcdable.  Our 
fupren^e  court  have,  indeed,  with  infinite  proprietj',  interpofed 
to  extirpate  what  are  called  in  Scotland,  parchment  barons,  and 
have  thus  prevented  a  crowd  of  unhappy  wretches  from  plung- 
ing into  an  abyfs  of  perjury.  But,  in  other  refpeifts,  their  de- 
ciuon  is  of  no  confequencc,  fince  it  moft  certainly  cannot  be  of 
the  finallell  concern  to  this  country,  who  are  our  elec'lors,  and 
reprefentatives ;  or,  indeed,  whether  we  are  reprcfented  at  all. 
Our  members  are,  moft  of  them,  the  mere  fateUites  of  the  mi- 
niftcr  of  the  day  ;  and  forward  to  fcrve  his  moft  oppreflive  and 
criminal  purpofes. 

It  feems  to  have  been  long  a  maxim  of  the  monopolizing  di* 
reilors  of  ourfouthern  maftcrs,  to  extirpate,  as  quickfy  as  pof- 
fible,  every  manufadure  in  this  country,  that  interferes  with 
their  own.  Mas  aiiy  body  forgotten  the  fcandalous  breach  of 
national  faith,,  by  which  the  Scottidi  diftillorics  have  been 
brou<j:ht  to  deftruittion  ?  Has  not  the  manufacture  of  ftarch  alfo 
been  driven,  by  every  engine  of  judicial  torture,  to  the  laft  pang 
of  its  cxiftcnce  ?  Have  not  the  manufadurers  of  paper,  printed 
callicoes,  malt  liquors  and  glafs,  been  harrafled  by  the  moft 
vexatious  methods  of  exafling  the  revenue  ?  ipethods  equivalent 
to  an  addition  often,  or  fometiraes  an  hundred /.,'»-  ceut.  of  the 
duty  payable.  Let  us  look  around  this  infulted  country,  and 
fay,  on  what  manufacture,  except  the  linen,,  governnient  has  not 
faftened  its  bloody  fangs.  .        .    > 


*  "  Daii^n  you  and  your  inftru^ftions  too,  I  have  bought 
"  you,  and  I  will  sell  you^"  faid  a  ^worthy  reprefentative  to 
his  conlUtucnts,  when  they  rcquetted  him  to  attend  to  their  in- 
tcreft  in  parliament.     Political  Dijr^nijitions,  vol.  i.  p.  280. 

+  To  this  general  cenfure  we  can  produce  a  few  exceptions, 
but  the  individual  are  fo  well  known^  that  it  would  be  neediefs 
to  nanie  them.  ^ 


w 


ange  them- 
confidered, 
in  the  par- 

oi/j,  wlu'v-h 

idignation  ; 

able.     Our 

interpofed 

baronSf  and 

om  plung- 

,  their  de- 

annot  be  of 

edors,  and 

nted  at  all. 

of  the  mi- 

)reflive  and 

)olIzing  dl- 
kfy  as  pof- 
rferes  with 
breach  of 
have  been 
ftarch  alfo 
le  laft  pang 
er,  printed 
y  the  moft 
equivalent 
eut.  of  the 
untry,  and 
;nt  has  not 


BOUGHT 

ntative  to 
)  their  in- 
!8o. 

xceptions, 
e  needle  fs 

In 


In  tlic  F,xclfc  annals  of  S<:othnd,  that  year  which  expired  on. 
the  5th  of  July  1790,  produced  for  the  duties  on  foap,  Jixty- 
fi've  tkoufavd  pounds.  On  the  5th  of  July  i79i>  the  annual 
amount  of  thcl'e  duties  was  oi\\y  forty -five  thoufand  pounds;  and 
by  the  fame  hopeful  progrefs,  in  three  years  more  at  farthcf>, 
our  niinifters  will  enjoy  the  pleafurc  of  extirpating  a  branch  of 
Trade,  once  flourifhing  and  extenfive.  Two  men  were  fome  years 
ago  executed  at  Edinburgh  for  robbing  the  Excifc  Office  of 
twenty-feven  pounds ;  but  offenders  may  be  named,  who  ten 
thoufand  times  better  deferv'e  the  gibbet.  We  have  fcen  that 
opprelTive  llatutcs,  and  a  method  of  enforcing  them,  the  moft 
tyrannical,  have,  in  a  finglc  year,  deprived  the  revenue  of 
twenty  thoufand  pounds,  in  one  line  only,  and  have  driven  a 
crowd  of  induflrious  families  out  of  the  country  ;  and  then  our 
Icgiflators,  to  borrow  the  honeft  language  of  George  Rous,  Efq, 
<'  have  the  infolencc  to  call  this  GOVERNMENT,"  , 

By  an  oriental  monopoly,  we  have  obtained  the  unexampled, 
privilege  of  buying  a  pound  of  the  fame  tea,  for  fix  or  eight 
ftiillings,  with  which  other  nations  would  eagerly  fupply  us  for 
twenty-pence  j  nay,  we  have  to  thank  our  prefect  illuftrious 
minifter,  that  this  trifling  vegetable  has  been  reduced  from  ^ 
price  flill  more  extravagant.  His  popularity  began  by  the 
commutation  aft.  Wonders  were  promifed,  wonders  were  ex- 
pefted,  and  wonders  have  happened  !  A  nation,  confifting  of 
men  who  call  themfelves  enlightened^  have  confcnted  to  build 
up  their  windows,  that  they  might  enjoy  the  pcrmillion  of  fip- 
ping  in  the  dark  a  cup  of  tea,  ten  per  cent,  cheaper  than  for- 
merly ;  though  not  Icfs  than  three  hundred /-fr  cent,  dearer  than 
its  intrinfic  price. 

Such  are  the  glorious  confequenccs  of  ourftupid  veneration  for 
a  minifter,  and  our  abfurd  fubmiflion  to  his  capricious  didates ! 

At  home  Englifhmen  admire  liberty  ;  but  abroad,  they  have 
always  been  harlh  mafters.  Edward  the  Firft  conquered  Wales 
and  Scotland  ;  and  at  the  diftancc  of  five  hundred  years,  his  name 
^s  yet  remembered  in  both  countries  with  traditionary  horror. 
His  aftions  are  fhadedby  a  degree  of  infamy  uncommon  eveq 
in  the  ruffian  catalogue  of  Englifh  kintjs. 

^  z  Til©  ■ 


r 


12 


J 


The  rap.idty  of  the  black  Prince,  as  he  has  been  emphati- 
cally termed,  drove  him  out  oF  France.  At  tliii  day,  there  are 
Englilh  writers  who  pretend  to  he  proud  of  the  unprovoked 
malfacres  committed  by  his  father  and  himfelf  in  that  country  ; 
but  on  the  other  hand,  Philip  de  Comines  afcribcs  the  civil 
wars  of  York  and  Lancafter,  which  followed  the  death  of  Hen- 
ry the  Fifth,  to  the  indignation  of  divine  julHce. 

Ireland,  for  many  centuries,  groaned  under  the  moft  opprcflive 
and  abfurd  dcfpotifin  ;  till,  in  defiance  of  all  confequenccs,  the 
immortal  SvvilV,  like  anoih.-r  Ajax, 

•'  Broke-  the  Jatk  phalnnxy  and  let  in  the  light," 

He  taught  his  country  to  underlland  her  importance.  At  laft 
fhe  r';fol\ed  to  aficrt  it,  and,  as  a  neceflary  circumftance,  Ihe 
arofc  in  arms.  England  faw  the  hazard  of  contending  with  % 
brave,  an  injured,  and  an  indignant  nation.  The  fabric  of  ty- 
ranny fell  without  a  blow  ;  and  a  fliort  time  will  extinguifh  the 
laft  veftige  of  a  fupremacy,  difnonourable  and  pernicious  to 
both  kingdoms. 

In  the  Eaft  and  Weft  Indies,  the  condndl  of  Britain  may  be 
fairly  contrafted  with  the  murder  of  Atabaliba,  and  will  prove 
equally  ruinous  to  the  dotefted  conquerors*. 

When  our  fublime  politicians  exult  in  the  viftory  of  Seringa- 
patam,  and  the  butchery  of  the  fubjefts  of  a  prince,  at  the  dif- 

*  *'  The  civil  wars  to  which  our  violent  defire  of  creating 
<*  Nabobs  gave  rife,  were  attended  with  tragical  events,  Ben* 
*'  gal  was  dejiopulatcd  by  every  fpecies  of  public  diftrefs.  In 
"  the  ipace  ofy?.v  years,  half  the  great  cities  of  this  opulent 
"  kingdom  were  rendered  defolate  ;  the  moft  fertile  fields  in  the 
"  world  lay  wafte  ;  and  five  millions  of  harmlefs  and  in- 
«'  duftrious  people  were  either  expelled  or  deftroyed.  Want  of 
«  forefight  became  more  fatal  than  irmate  barbarifm  ;  and  men 
"  found  themfelves  wading  through  blood  and  ruift,  when  their 
««  only  objeft  was  fpoil"  Doiv's  Hifiaty  of  Indojiatty  vol.  iii, 
p.  70.  This  book  was  publilbed  in  17721  and  the  prefent  quo- 
tation refers  to  our  condudi:  at  that  period. 

In  this  dreadful  fcene,  the  moft  diftinguiftied  aftor  was  Lord 
Clive.  But  neither  four  millions  tterling,  nor  even  immenfe 
quantities  of  opium  could  ftifle  in  his  bofom  the  agonies  of  re« 
flectioa.    In  1 774,  he  cut  his  own  throat, 

tance 


:n  emphati- 
y,  there  are 
unprovoked 
at  country  ; 
:s  the  civil 
uh  of  Hcii- 

ft  opprcfllve 
[uenccs,  tlie 


;.  At  laft 
fiance,  fhe 
ing  with  a 
brie  of  ty- 
inguifh  the 
nicious   to 

in  may  be 
will  proYc 

f  Scringa- 
at  the  dif- 

creating 

>ts,     Sen-. 

trefs.     In 

opulent 

^ld6  in  the 

and  in^ 

Want  of 

and  men 

len  their 

»  vol.  iii, 

fent  Quo- 


vas  Lord 
imn>enfe 
es  of  re« 

tance 


[     >3     ] 

fance  of  fix  thoufand  leagues,  I  am  convinced  from  tlic  bottom 
of  my  he;irt,  and  To  will  the  majority  of  my  countrymen  bc» 
long  before  this  century  has  clapied,  that  it  would  be  an  event, 
the  mod  aufpicious  both  for  Bengal  and  for  Britain,  ifCorn- 
wallis  and  all  liis  myrmidons  could  be  at  once  driven  out  of 
India. 

But  what  quarter  of  the  globe  has  not  been  convulfed  by  our 
ambition,  our  avarice,  and  our  bafencfs  ?  The  tribes  of  the 
Pacific  ocean  are  polluted  by  the  moft  loathfomc  of  difeafes; 
our  brandy  has  brutalized  or  extirpated  the  Indians  of  the  weft- 
cm  continent ;  and  we  h3"e  hired  by  thoufands  the  wretched 
furvivors  to  the  talk  of  bloodfhed.  On  the  fhores  of  Africa, 
we  bribe  whole  nations  by  drunkenncfs,  to  robbery  and  mur* 
dcr ;  while  in  the  face  of  earth  and  heaven,  our  fenatoio  aflena* 
ble  to  fanftify  the  pradice.  ..  ' 

Our  North  American  colonies  were  eftablinied,  defended, 
and  loft,  by  a  fucccffion  of  long  and  bloody  wars,  and  at  a  re- 
corded cxpence  of  at  leaft  two  or  three  hundred  miU'ons  fte»» 
ling  *.  We  ftill  retain  Canada,  at  an  annual  charge  of  fix  or 
feven  hundred  thoufand  pounds.  This  fum  is  wrcfted  from  ut 
by  an  excife,  which  revels  in  the  dcftruftion  of  manufa(^urei, 
and  the  beggary  of  ten  thoufand  honed  families  +.  From  tho 
province  itfelf  wc  never  raifed,  nor  hope  to  raife,  a  HiiHing  of 
revenue ;  and  the  fole  reafon  why  its  inhabitants  endure  out 
dominion  for  a  month  longer  is,  to  fccure  the  money  wc  fpend 
among  them. 

*  In  the  war  of  177 j;,  Britifli  officers  pilfered  books  from  a 
public  library,  which  had  been  founded  at  Philadelphia  by  an 
individual  more  truly  eftimable  than  many  of  the  whole  profef* 
fjon  put  together ;  I  need  hardly  fubjoin  the  name  of  Franklin* 

+  Look  into  Kearfely's  or  Robertfon's  tax^tables ;  What 
concife !  what  treraenduous  volumes !  When  our  political 
writers  boaft  of  Britifti  liberty,  they  remind  us  of  Smollct's  cob- 
ler  in  Bedlam  bombarding  Conftantinople.  If  the  viftims  who 
groan  under  our  yoke,  were  acquainted  with  the  con&fion  and 
ilavery  which  our  avarice  or  mad  ambition  have  inflifted  on 
ourfelves,  a  very  confiderable  fliare  of  their  abhorrence  would 
be  converted  into  coittempt  or  pitj', 

,-■:•''  ,         '    chap; 


y 


T 


■| 


I     I 


[    H    1 


CHAP    II. 


•r  ; 


*Tis  time  to  take  enormity  by  the  forehead  and  brand  It. 

Ben  Johnson, 

»*  "TXURING  the  reigns  of  Charles  and  James  the  Second, 
•'  -*-^  above  fixty  thoufand  Nonconformilh  futFcred,  of 
"  whom^i;!'  thoufand  died  in  prison.  On  a  moderate  com- 
«  putation,  thefe  pcrfons  were  pillaged  of  fourteen  mii.li- 
••  ons  of  property.  Such  was  the  tolerating,  liberal,  candid 
*'  f|MrIt  of  the  Church  of  England**"  This  eftimate  cannot 
be  intended  to  include  Scotland,  for  it  is  likely  that  here  alone, 
Epifcopacy  facrificed  fixty  thoufand  vidims.  Of  all  forts  of  fol- 
lies, the  records  of  the  Church  form  the  moft  outrageous  bur- 
Jifque  on  the  human  underftanding.  As  to  Charles  the  Second, 
it  is  full  time  that  we  ftiould  be  fpared  from  the  hereditary  in- 
fblt  of  a  holiday,  for  what  Lord  Gardcnftone  has  juftly  termed 

"his   BANEFUL   RESTORATION." 

It  is  vulgarly  underftood  that  our  political  millenium  com- 
menced with  "  the  glorious  Revolution,"  Let  the  reader  judge 
frohi  what  follows. 

«  Two  hundred  thoufand  pounds  a  year  hejioiued  upon  the 
«*  parliametiiy  have  already  (1693)  drawn  out  of  the  pockets 
«'  of  the  fubjefts  more  money  than  all  our  kings  Jlnce  the  Cott" 
**  quefl  'have  had  from  the  nation  ! — The  King  (William)  has 
«  about  fix  fcore  members,  whom  I  can  reckon,  who  arc  ia 
«'  places,  and  are  thereby  fo  entirely  at  his  devotion,  that  though 
**  thfcy  have  mortal  feuds,  luhen  out  e/"/^-? //o«/^,  and  though 
«*  they  are  violently  of  oppofiie  parties,  in  their  notions  of  go- 
«*  vefnment,  yet  they  vote  as  lumpingly  as  the  laivn  Jleeves, 
f*  The  Houfe  isfoq^f^r^^by  thofe  who  have  places  and  pen- 


*  Fide  Flower  on  the  French  Conftitutioni  p.  437*  andhij 
Authorities, 


t    '5    J 


and  it. 

OHNSONf 

the  Second f 
"uffered,  of 
derate  com- 

;EN   MILLI- 

cral,  candid 

mate  cannot 

here  alone, 

forts  of  fol- 

■ageous  bur- 

the  Second, 

rreditary  in- 

illly  termed 

'J  - . .  ■' '  I. 

enium  com- 
eaderjudgCr 

ed  upon  the 
ae  pockets 
ice  the  Can" 
illiani}  has 
who  are  ia 
that  though 
and  though 
ions  of  go- 
'swn  Jleeves, 
s  and  pen- 

37,  andhij 
f<  fionS| 


"  ftonst  that  the  King  can  baffle  any  bill,  quafli  aU  grievanccsy 
"  and  ftiHc  all  accompts  *." 

A  pawnbroker  defccnding  from  the  pillory  would  not  be 
fiiffercd  to  refumc  his  profeflion.  A  porter  convided  of  theft, 
tvould  be  f*  prived  of  his  ticket.  We  might  be  tempted  to  ima- 
gine, that  a  folicitudc  to  embrace  pollution,  can  hardly  exift 
even  in  the  mcanelt  and  moft  worthlefs  rank  of  mankind.  Ic 
feems  incredible,  that  an  aflcmbly  confining  of  Gentlemeftt  (hall 
fird  by  a  folemn  vote  difcharge  one  of  their  members  as  a  raf- 
ealy  and  in  a  fhort  time  Vihtx^  place  him  at  their  head.  That  fucb 
a  cafe  has  actually  happened,  appears  upon  record. 

In  the  year  171 1,  the  Houfe  of  Commons  refolved,  "  That 
«  Robert  Walpoley  Efquire^  having  been  this  fcffion  of  parlia.- 
"  liamcnt  committed  aprifoner  to  the  Tower,  and  expelled  this 
*'  Houfe  for  a  breach  of  truji  in  the  execution  of  his  office,  and 
«  NOTORIOUS  CORRUPTION,  whcn  Secretary  at  War,  was, 
«  and  is  incapable  of  being  eledled  a  member  to  ferve  in  this 
"  prefent  parliament."  Such  an  expulfion  would  for  ever  have 
bolted  him  out  of  any  fociety  but  a  Britifh  fenate.  In  171 5'» 
when  a  new  parliament  was  called,  he  refumed  his  feat.  He 
rofe  fuperior  to  competition ;  and  the  end  of  his  career  was 
worthy  of  his  outfet.  Yet  his  charafter  can  lofe  nothing  by  a 
comparifon  with  that  of  his  conftituents,  theburgelTes  of  Lynn, 
^ho  attempted  inftautly  upou  his  expulfion,  to  return  him  a  fe- 
cond  time  as  their  reprefentative,  but  their  choice  was  rejefted. 
Nor  was  it  becaufe  Walpole  had  pilfered  five  hundred  guineas 
that  he  was  expelled  and  fent  to  the  Tower.  He  was  a  Whig% 
and  at  that  time  the  majority  in  the  Houfe  of  Commons  were 
Tories.     This  was  regarded  as  the  true  caufe  of  his  fentencc  f. 

*  Burgh's  Political  Dilquifitions,  vol.  i,  p.  405. 

+  George  the  Second,  on  his  acceffion,  had  refolved  to  dif- 
mifs  Walpole.  The  minifter  offered  on  condition  of  keeping  his- 
place,  to  obtain  an  addition  of  an  hundred  thoufand  pounds /^r 
annum  to  the  civil  lift,  and  a  jointure  of  an  hundred  thoufand 
pounds  to  Queen  Caroline.  His  terms  were  accepted.  It  is 
impoflible  for  the  human  mind  to  conceive  a  more  fordid  tranf- 
aftion.  Edmund  Burke,  in  what  he  calls  an  appeal  to  the  old 
whigs,  has  gravely  aflured  us,  that  "  Walpole  was  an  honour-^ 
<'  able  man,  and  z. found  whig.  He  was  not  a  prodigal  and  car'* 
*<  rupt  luiniiter.    He  was  far  from  governing  by  corruption.'* 

The 


ff 


r  '6  ] 

The  Earl  of  Wharton,  «;/<?//'<»/•  wmc,  was  fined  in  a  thoufand 
pounds  for  an  outrat;c  too  groCs  to  be  repeated.  This  did  ntt 
deprive  him  of  his  feat  in  the  Houfe  of  Peers,  nor  impede  his 
progrefsto  the  go\ernmcnt  of  Ireland,  where  his  conduft  rivalled 
that  of  Rumbold  in  Bengal,  or  Verres  in  Sicily. — About  the 
year  1770,  General  Burgoyne  was  lined  in  a  thoufand  pounds 
for  bribery  at  an  election  for  Prefton.  He  enjoys  a  feat  in  the 
prefent  j:   'liamcnt.  % 

On  the  .ubjcft  of  parliamentary  corruption,  no  writer  has 
fpoken  with  more  franknefs  and  pcrfpicuity,  than  Mr.  Dodding- 
ton,  in  his  celebrated  Diary.  In  a  converfation  with  the  Duke 
of  Newcaftle,  in  1753,  about  aneleftionfor  Bridgcwatcr,  there 
is  the  following  curious  paffage  :  "  I  recommended  my  two 
"  parfons,  Burroughs  and  Franklin.  The  Duke  entered  into 
"  it  very  cordially,  and  anfwered  me,  that  they  fhould  have 
•<  the  firft  crown  livings  that  Ihould  be  vacant  in  their  parts,  if 
«  we  would  look  out  and  fend  him  the  firil  intelligence."  And 
again,  "  Mr.  Pclham  declared,  that  I  had  a  good  deal  of 
"  marketable  nuarey  parliamentary  tnterest,  and  that  if 
<*  I  would  empower  him  to  offer  it  all  to  the  King,  ^without 
**  condiihtiSi  he  would  be  anfwerable  to  bring  the  affair  to  a  good 
««  account. — The  Duke  of  Newcaftle  faid,  that  what  I  did  was 
«  very  grmty  that  he  often  thought  with  furprifc,  at  the  eafc 
«  and  cheapiiefs  of  the  eledion  at  Weymouth,  ihnt  they  had 
*'  NOTHING  like  it.  I  faid,  I  believed  there  were  few  who 
<'  could  give  his  Majefty  six  members  for  mihing. — The  elec- 
*<  tion  coft  me  three  thoufand  four  hundred  pounds.  I  was 
"  fairly  chofen,  nor  would  the  returning  officer  have  dared  not 
<'  to  return  me,  had  '  ,  not  been  encouraged  by  the  fervants  of 
<'  adminiftration.  The  borough  was  loft,  and  loft  folely  by  a 
«*  Lord  ot  the  Bed-chamber,  and  the  Cuftom-houfc  Officers.'* 
(Var  mhile  fratrum  ! )  "  Lord  Bute  had  told  Anfon,  that 
«<  room  muft  be  made  for  Lord  Parker ;  who  replied^  that  all 
«*  was  engaged.  Bute  faid.  What,  my  Lordy  the  King's  Admi- 
**■  ratty  boroughs  fully  and  the  King  not  acquainted  luith  it  I  An- 
«  fon  feemed  quite  difconcerted,  and  knew  not  what  to  fay*," 

f  Doddington's  Diary,  3d  ed.  p,  256,  283,  293,  309,  etfeq» 

This 


t  17  ] 


in  a  thoufand 
This  did  net 
ix  impede  bis 
•nduft  rivalled 
^ — About  the 
oufand  pounds 
s  a  feat  in  the 

110  writer  has 
Mr.  Dodding- 
vith  the  Duke 
gcwatcr,  there 
?nded  my  two 
e  entered  into 
ey  fhould  have 
their  parts,  if 
ligence."   And 

good  deal  of 
3T,  and  that  if 
King,  nuithout 
iffair  to  a  good 
what  1  did  was 
il'c,  at  the  eafc 
,  that  they  had 
were  few  who 
'/^. — The  elec- 
jounds.     I  was 
have  dared  not 
the  fcrvants  of 
loft  folely  by  a 
loufc  OiBccrs." 
d  Anfon,  that 
eplied^  that  all 
King's  Admi" 

nuith  it!     An- 
what  tofay*." 

This 


Yhl?  agrecf;  cvatniy  with  the  account  givon  l)y  Mr.  CourtneVi 
in  a  late  debate  in  the  Hovfc  of  Commons,  when*  he  oljferved, 
tli.it  members  came  into  p:irlianient  with  a  label  at  their  moutlis, 
infcribed,  Yt^  or  Ao.  'I'he  ftatc  of  Britifli  reprefentation  has 
been  often  examined  and  ceni'ured.  A  few  particulars  may  fcrve 
as  a  fpecimcu  of  the  reft.  , ,-         . 

J'ingland  is  find  to  contain  eight  millions  of  inhabitants^  who 
frnd  to  the  Iloufe  of  Commons  five  hundred  and  thirteen  mem- 
bers. At  this  rate,  every  million  ought,  upon  an  aver:ige,  to 
chufe  fixty-four  reprefcntatives.  The  cities  of  London  and 
Weftmjnftcr  contain  between  them,  about  a  million  of  peoplt:*! 
who  elcdfl  not  Jivtj-four,  buty/.v  members  for  parliament.  The 
borotigli  of  Old  Sarum,  which  contains  only  onf  inhabitant, 
fends  two  members. 

On  this  topick,  a  fhort  cxtraft  from  Mr.  Burgh's  Political 
Difquifitions,  may  entertain  the  reader. — "  Two  hundred  and 
"  fifty-four  members  are  elected  by  five  thoufand  feven  hundred 
"  and  twenty-three  votes ;  now,  the  moft  numerous  meeting  of 
«  the  Commons  ever  known,  was  on  occafion  of  the  debate 
«<  about  Walpole,  A.  D.  1741.  There  were  then  five  hundred 
"  and  two  in  the  Houfe.  Therefore,  two  hundred  and  fifty- 
"  four  comes  very  rfear  a  majority  of  the  Houfe,  or  the  tvhole 
<*  aiii/ig  and  ejpciefit  number.  And  the  greateft  part  of  thefe 
'*  illuftrious  five  thoufand  feven  hundred  and  twenty-three, 
"  who  have  the  power  of  corftituting  lawgivers  over  the  pro- 
"  }x;rty  of  the  nation,  are  themfelves  perfons  of  no  property*." 

The  writer  has  here  committed  a  flight  inaccuracy;  for,  in 
the  debate  about  Walpole,  thefe  two  hundred  and  fifty-four 
members,  who  are  not,  in  fa<fl,  elefted  by  a  two  hundredth  part 
of  the  nation,  would  have  feemed  an  adtual  majority  of  fiji 
votes  againft  the  whole  other  reprefcntatives  in  the  Houfe.  In 
the  year  1770,  the  Englifh  nation  became  jealous  that  their 
liberties  were  in  danger,  becaufc  Government  had  interfered  in 
the  election  of  Mr.  Wilkes,  as  a  member  for  the  county  of  Mid- 
dlefex.     The  letters  of  Junius  are  chiefly  employed  upon  this 


Political  Difquifitions,  vol,  i,  p.  45, 


topic. 


*x 


top'c.     Junuis,  with  all  his  merit,  rcfc-inblcd  a  hafhrr,  who 
plucks  out  a  fingic  hair,  when  he  ought  to  be   fliaving  your 
btaril.     It  could  not  be  of  the  leall  confcqui-nce  to  the  ct)unty 
of  Middk'fcx,  nor  is  it  of  any  concern  to  any  other  county  in 
I'.Mghinvl,  who  arc  their  ivprcfcntativcs,  fincc  the  two  hundred 
and   fifty-four  members  who  arc   oloftod  by    a    two   hun- 
dredth  PART  ofthr^  nation,  and  the  forty-five  mako-wcight 
Scotch  mt.'mbcrs,  are  alone  fuflicicnt  to  infure  a  majority^     The 
fubjcil  is  too  abfurd  to  ad.nit  of  an  argument,  and  too  dctrfta- 
ble  for  declamation.     If  Government  were  candidly  to  fend 
two  hundred  and  fifty- four  excifcmen,  or  clerks  from  the  Bank 
of  England,  into  parliament,  in  place  of  thefc  two  hundred  and 
lifty-four  members,  it  would  fave  the  cxpence  of  election,  and 
a  great  part  of  the  ncccffary  cxpence  of  corruption.     It  is  truc> 
that  the   maftcrs  of  rotten  boroughs  arc  often  inrolled  in  the 
ranks  of  oppofition  ;  and  among  others,  the  Earl  of  Chatham, 
began  his  progrefs  as  a  member  for  Old  Sarum.     But  an  oppo- 
fition alv/ays  confifts,  in  part,  of  adventures,  wl)o,  as  Dr.  John- 
fon  obfcrves,  «  having  clUmattd  themfelves  at  two  high  a  price* 
*'  are  only  angry  that  they  are  liot  bought  *."     There  is  a  cant 
expreflion  in  this  countrj',  that  our  Government  is  defervedly 
the  ivotidcr  and  emy  of  the  ivorlJ.     With  better  rcafon  it  may  W. 
faid,  that  Parliament  is  a  mere  outwork  of  the  court,  a  pha- 
lanx of  mercenaries  embattled  againft  the  reafon,  the  happinefsj 
;ind  the  liberty  of  mankind.     The  game  laws,  the  dog  a6t,  the 
{hop  tax,  the  window  tax,  the  pedlars  tax,  the   attorney  taxj. 
and  a  thoufahd  others,  give  us  a  right  to  v/ifli  tlut  their  au* 
thors  had  been  hanged. 


nil  lb  Mil, »■    ,» 


♦  /'/</«■  Falfc  Alarm. 


':       *  .'  -'f 


J,'  'V  \t.yi  u< 


•r  ^'    •.• 


CHAr. 


t     '9    ] 


)arlirr,  whrj 
laving  your 
tl'.f  loiinty 
r  county  in 
wo  Iiundred 
rvvo   HUN- 
lake -weight 
)rity»     The 
too  tlctr da- 
ily to  fend 
in  the  Bank 
lundred  and 
Icition,  and 
It  is  truc^ 
L)lled  in  the 
:>f  Chatham. 
Jut  an  oppo- 
IS  Dr.  John- 
ligh  a  price* 
lere  is  a  cant 
,s  defervedly 
"on  it  may  W. 
ourt,  a  pha- 
le  happinefsj 
dog  ad>  the 
ttomey  taxy 
lut  their  3U* 


CHAP.     Ill, 


.*  ■    .|4'  ;, , .  ^6 


. -'    ■  J' > 


-Felicior  cflTem 


•  ■ 

Angullis  opihus :  malleni  tolcrare  Sabmo?,  , 

Et  Vcjos :  brev  ior  duxi  fccurius  x-v  urn. 

Ipfa  nocet  moles.  .     .  Claudiaw. 

IT  is  now  ciglity-eight  years  finc^r  *  wr  furprifed  Gibraltar. 
Wc  have  retained  this  barren,  ufelefs  rock,  umler  the  pre- 
tence yfprotc(5Ung  our  trade  in  the  Mediterranean;  audit  is 
even  a  forry  conceit  in  Britain  that  we  are  thus  mafters  of  a  kind 
of  toll-bar  to  the  entrance  of  tbat  fea.  Had  the  pafTagc  been 
only  five  hundred  yards  wide,  this  fancy  would  have  had  fomc 
foundation.  But,  unfortunately,  the  S/raif,  as  we  call  it,  is 
/ive»fy  miles  \\\  breadth  ;  fo  that  all  the  (hips  in  the  world  may 
pafs  it  every  day,  in  contempt  of  all  our  batteries.  As  to  the 
protedion  of  our  merchants,  it  is  equally  fuperfluous,  for  our 
commerce  to  that  part  of  Europe  was  far  more  extcnfive,  long 
before  we  polTefled  Gibraltar,  than  it  is  at  this  moment +  ;  and 
this  unqueltionable  faft  proves  the  abfolute  impertinence  of  the 
whole  fcheme.  A  plain  comparifon  from  domeftic  life  will  il- 
luftrate  what  I  fay.  Let  us  put  the  cafe,  that  a  private  gentle- 
man is  like  Britain,  overwhelmed  with  debt.  He  builds  and 
furnifhes  a  handfome  inn  on  the  road  to  his  country  feat,  and 
he  gives  the  premifes  to  his  butler,  with  a  penfion  of  five  hun- 
dred pounds,  on  condition,  that  in  dirty  weather,  he  fliall  be 
fuffered  to  pull  off  his  boots  in  the  kitchen.  But  were  even  the 
port  cf  Gibraltar  funk  to  the  centre  of  the  earth,  we  can  have 
no  want  of  fhelter  at  the  Ihorteft  diftance.  There  are  three 
jiorts  on  the  oppofite  fide  of  the  Strait.  Bcfides,  we  cannot  re- 
tain this  fortrefs,  unlefs  we  preferve  a  fuperiority  at  fea,  and  as 


*  In  1704^ 

+  This  circumftance  has  been  fully  explained  by  Dr.  Adam 
Bipith,  in  lys  Jncjuiry,  book  4,  chap.  7. 

C  a     ,  long 


CHAP* 


I   !       I 


•i       I 


'■        II 


h^ 


M 


[      20      ] 

lon-^  an  we  prcfcrve  that  fii|KTiorlfyi  Gihniltar  is  of  nn  coiife- 
ijuttJico.  For  the  mrmoraMe  proi^irfs  of  Admiral  I'lake  on  the 
load  of  Barhary  pro>'c  >  that  while  vc  can  laumh  a  viiitorlMus 
tiavyi  nviimcci  a;  it  i.  l)y  a  race  of  vctorans  heyoiul  all  praife, 
we  can  always  commaml  a  free  navi^^atiou  in  every  harbour  oi 
thcj^lohe.  tio  much  for  the  importance  of  thiK  boalled  acijiii- 
fition.  Let  us  now  confulcr  its  expence  ;  and  on  this  head  the 
reader  may,  if  he  thinks  prop:;r,  prepare  himftlf  for  altoniili- 
im-nt.  "^rhe  fortrefsj  for  a  long  period  pall,  has  colt  us  live  hun- 
dred thoufand  pounds  a  }  car,  befidcs  the  extraordinary  advances 
i'l  time  of  wari  and  the  Aims  which  the  garrifon,  by  foher  in- 
UuHry,  might  have  earned  at  home  in  time  of  peace.  For  the 
fake  of  moderation,  let  us  compute  that  Gibraltar,  during  the 
wliolc  fpacc  of  our  p(»ircirion,  has  recjuired,  upon  an  average, 
only  tvvq  hundred  thoufand  pounds  /nr  annum  ;  on  multiplying 
irhis  fum  by  eighty-ci^ht,  we  are  prcfented  with  an  amount  of 
i'jventeen  millions  and  fix  hundred  thoufand  j)ounds  flcrling. 
Could  the  prcmifcs  be  difputcd,  the  total  expence  would  ex- 
ceed cre.libility  ;  for  at  the  rate  of  five  />cf  cent,  of  compound 
intereft,  a  fura  doubles  itfelf  in  fourteen  years;  «ind,  confe- 
qucntly,  in  the  courfe  of  eighty-four  years,  from  1704,  to  1788, 
the  /irlt  payment  of  two  hundred  thoufand  pounds  will  increafe 
to  twelve  millions  and  eight  hundred  thoufand.  The  fimplc 
intercit  of  this  fum,  for  the  four  additional  years,  from  1788  to 
1792  ii.'clufive,  amounts  to  two  millions  five  hundred  and  fixtw 
thoufand  pounds,  and  the  whole  arifcs  to  fifteen  millions  three 
hundred  and  fixty  thoufand  pounds.  This,  however,  concerns 
only  one  year  of  our  conqueft.  The  firil  four  years  extend  in 
the  whole  to  fifty-feven  millions  and  fix  hundred  thoufand  pounds 
jlerling.  Another  lofs  alfo  muft  be  taken  into  this  unfathom- 
able accompt.  'I'he  garrifon  of  this  fortrefs  confifts  always  of 
at  leaft  fou^  thoufand  men,  and  fometimcs  of  more  than  twice 
that  number.  An  ordinary  workman  can  earn  ten  (hillings  a 
week,  and  the  labour  of  four  thoufand  fuch  workmeti  is  worth 
to  the  public  above  an  hundred  thoufand  pounds  per  annum. 
This  adds  one  third  part  more  of  additional  lofs.  The  total 
expence  therefore,  which  this  acquifition  exhaufted  in  the  firft 


c 


21 


] 


oK  110  confc- 
Mlake  on  the 
1  a  \iCtori'ius 
hI  all  praifr, 
y  harbour  oi 
)allfd  iii'ijiii- 
this  head  the 
(or  altonifl;- 
us  live  hui)- 
ary  advances 
by  fobcr  in- 
[cc.     For  the 
r,  during  the 
an  average, 
multiplying 
in  amount  of 
inds  ftcrling, 
:e  would  ex- 
jf  compound 
;  and,  confc- 
704,  to  1788, 
will  increafc 
The  fimplc 
from  1788  to 
red  and  fixtw 
millions  three 
^er,  concerns 
irs  extend  in 
mjand  pounds 
is  unfathom- 
fts  always  of 
c  than  twice 
a  (hillings  a 
nen  is  worth 
per  annum, 
,  ■  The  total 
d  in  the  firft 


four  yrsir..  (»nly»  iiuluding  the  legal  interoft  of  our  monfv  d'  y< 
to  tliis  dayi  cannot  have  been  lofs  than  righiy-fix  ,tilliunt 
four  hundred  thoiifiwd  pounds.  We  arc  likrwife  cntitleil  to 
compute  not  only  what  we  have  pofitively  loft,  but  what  wo 
mi!!;ht  with  eipial  certainty  have  j^aincd.  Britain  and  frclaiul 
ct)ntain  about  an  hundf'd  ;ind  (bur  thoufand  fquarc  miles,  and 
if  this  fum  of  ei.i;hty-lix  millions  four  hundred  thoufand  pounds 
hail  l»een  expanded  on  the  jnirpofes  of  agriculture,  it  would 
have  funplied  a  fu:id  of  eight  hundred  and  thirty  poouds  ftcr- 
ling for  every  f^uare  mile.  Hence,  inllrad  of  an  inten-ll  of 
five  per  cent,  the  funds  thus  einplo;  cd  would  have  returned  a 
profit  o\'  ten  or  tiuentv,  or  perhaps  ^iS.  fifiy  per  cent. 

'I'he  reader  may  profecute,  and  contemplate  the  fequd  of 
this  calculation.  All  the  current  calh  in  Europe,  or  in  the 
world,  would  come  infinitely  fliort  of  difcharging  fuch  a  reck- 
oning. Britain  may  be  fuppofcd  at  this  time  to  contain  about 
fifteen  hundred  thoufand  families,  befides  thofc  who  arc  fup- 
ported  upon  charity.  Now,  dividing  the  prcfent  annual  cx- 
pcncc  of  five  hundred  thoufand  pounds  equally  among  them,  it 
amounts  to  a  ihare  of  fix  Hiillings  and  eight  pence /rr  family. 
The  money  ought  to  be  '•aifed  under  adiftrncl  title,  fuch  as  the 
Gibraltar  additional  Jhillmg  of  land  tax^  the  Gibraltar  malt  tax, 
ihe  Gibraltar  cxci/e  on  tobacco^  the  Gibraltar  game  licence,  the 
Gibraltar  hoife  licence,  tho  Gibraltar  attorney  licence,  or  the  Gib- 
t\.i\VAV Jiamp  duty  on  legacies.  In  that  cafe,  the  nation  would 
inftantly  confider  what  they  are  about,  and  caft  off  fuch  a 
prepofterous  burden.  The  payment  of  fix  (hillings  and  eight: 
pence  is  frequently  the  fmallcll  part  of  the  grievance.  By  the 
exper/'e  of  excifemen,  of  profccutions,  and  of  penalties,  five 
(liillings  of  revenue  may  often  coft  a  lidrSSh  freeman  ten  times 

iis  many  pounds  llerling  *«  '        " 

Before 

*  I  (hall  mention  an  example  in  point,  which  occurs  while  I 
am  now  writing.  An  old  woman  had  been  in  the  prafticc  of 
I'upplying  her  neighbours  with  halfpennyworths  of  inuff.  She 
was  ordered,  under  a  penalty  oi  fifty  pounds^  to  pay  fi've  JhilVmgs 
for  a  licence,  and  (he  did  fo.  Had  (he  been  able  to  buy  from 
the  mai;xufa(iliirer  four  pounds  of  fnufF  »t  a  tiraa>  thje  bufineft 
-    ^  ,  might 


■ 


[ 


22 


1 


Befcirc  t}ie  acqu'ifitlon  of  Gibraltar,  Englaml,  in  the  wliole 
courfc  of  her  hillory,  had  only  three  wars  with  Spain.  'I'iic  firf^ 
in  ijSS,  was  produced  by  the  piracies  of  Drake  and  other&» 
and  by  the  alliftancc  which  Eli/.abeth  alForded  to  the  Dutch  re- 
volters.  The  fccond  war  was  likovvife  unprovoked  on  the  part 
ol'Spainv  Cromwell  ^bund  it  nccefTary  to  vent  the  turbulence 
of  his  fubjofts  in  a  foreign  quarrel,  and  Jamaica  was  invade4 
and  feized  witliout  even  a  pretence  of  juftice.  On  this  conqueit 
chiefly  has  England  founded  that  hopeful  branch  of  her  com- 
merce, t\iz  Sla\e-Tradc,  while  the  climate  has  annually  extir- 
pated, by  thoufands,  the  vagrants  from  Europe.  The  third  Spa- 
nifli  war  had  an  origin  worthy  of  its  predeceflbrs.  The  King 
of  Spain,  by  his  will,  transferred  his  dominions  to  a  Prince  of 
the  houfe  of  Bourbon.  His  fubjefts  confented  or  fubmitted  to 
the  choice,  and  England,  with  a  degree  of  infolence  unmatched 
in  hillory,  interfered  in  favour  of  an  Aufcrian  candidate.  The 
conteft  ended  with  our  acquifition  of  Minorca,  nd  Gibraltar  i 
'an  injury  to  Spain  of  the  moll  ofFenfive  nature.  Since  that 
pciiod  her  court  has  always  been  forward  to  contend  with  usj 
and  five  wars*,  begun  and  terminated  in  the  fhort  fpace  of 
fixty-five  years,  allures  us  of  their  indelible  indignation,  Noy 
can  we  be  furprifed  at  their  animofity  ;  for  what  would  an  Eng- 
Jhhman  fay  or  feel,  were  Plymouth  and  Dover  fortified  by  a 
French  garrifon  ?  Happily  for  the  fpecies,  our  countrymen  at 
Gibraltar  have  been  but  feldom  attacked.  Hence,  in  a  time  of 
war,  they  have  commonly  inflifted  and  fuffered  far  lefs  mifchief 
ihan  mull  have  been  committed  on  both  fides  in  a  piratical  ex^ 

might  have  refted  there  ;  but  as  thL  was  beyond  her  power,  it 
was  required  by  the  terriers  of  taxation,  that  fhe  fhould  make 
oath,  once  a  year,  to  the  quantity  (he  fold.  Her  memory  failed, 
and  fhe  is  now,  with  a  crowd  of  other  vidlims,  in  an  excife 
court,  which  will  very  poffibly  bring  her  to  beggary.  This  is 
like  a  drop  in  the  ocean  of  excife.  The  very  found  of  the  word 
announces  utter  deftrudlion ;  for  it  is  derived  from  a  Latin  verb, 
which  fignifies  to  cut  up  by  the  roots. 

What  «  our  moft  excellent  conftitution"  may  be  In  theory,  I 
neither  know  nor  care.  In  practice,  it  is  altog'^ther  a  conspi- 
racy OF  THE  RICH  AGAINSt  THE   POOR. 

*  Viz,  in,  i-ji^t  i"  17271  ia  173^1  in  1762,  a^id  in  1779. 

:"       .  \-:'.     peditioB 


_j»i 


.  in  the  whole 
ain.     'I'jic  firf^ 
:c  and  others, 
the  Dutch  re- 
ed on  the  part 
the  turbulence 
a  w  as  invadc4 
1  this  conquell 
1  of  her  com- 
nnually  extir- 
rhe  third  Spa- 
I.     The  King 
I  a  Prince  of 
lubmitted  to 
e  unmatched 
didate.     The 
id  Gibraltar; 
Since  that 
'^  nd  with  us  • 
10  rt  fpace  of 
ation.     Nor 
)uld  an  Eng, 
ortified  by  a 
untrymen  at 
in  a  time  of 
lefs  mifchief 
nratical  ex, 

power,  it 
lould  make 
nory  failed, 
1  an  excife 
This  is 
3f  tlie  word 
Latin  verb, 

n  theory,  I 

a  CONSFI- 

1779.    " 
peditloa 


[     23 


i 


pedition  to  the  coaft  of  Peru,  in  defolating  the  pla'hs  of  Hlrt- 
doftan,  in  burning  the  fhipping  at  bt.  Maloes,  or  in  ftorming  the 
peftilcntial  ramparts  of  the  Havannah  *.  "■     '' 

In  lyo^t  we  captured  Minorca,  and  after  what  has  beei> 
(aid  as  to  Gibraltar,  it  is  unneccfTary  to  expatiate  on  the  mon- 
fterous  cxpences  which  it  mull  have  c.oft  us  d'jring  half  a  cen- 
tury, till  it  was  in  1756  furrendercd  to  the  French.  On  this 
event  the  whole  EngliHi  nation  fccmed  to  have  run  out  of  their 
fenfec.  Yet  to  the  lofs  of  this  fortrefs,  we  may  in  fome  mca- 
fure  attribute  our  fuccefsy  as  it  was  called,  in  that  war ;  for  the 
charge  of  fupporting  Minorca  rauft  have  been  felt  as  a  dead 
weight  upon  our  ether  operations.  It  was  rcftored  in  1765,  and 
in  1781,  it  was  a  fecond  time,  and  I  hope  for  ever,  feparated 
from  the  Britifh  dominions.  By  the  lofs  of  this  fortrefs  we 
fave  an  inceflant  and  extravagant  expence.  With  me  it  is  an 
object  of  regret,  that  the  brave  Elliot  and  his  garrifon  had  not 
been  forced  to  capitulate  by  the  firfl  bomb  difcharged  againH: 
them.  The  individuals,  afting  as  they  did,  from  the  moft  ge- 
nerous and  honourable  principles,  have  acquired  and  deferved 
our  warmed  gratitude  ;  and,  as  it  may  be  expefted  that  liach 
events  will  hereafter  become  lefs  frequent,  their  glory  will  de- 
fend with  increafmg  luftre  to  the  laft  generations  of  mankind. 
But  their  efforts  were  fatal  to  this  country  ;  for  it  is  felf-evidenC 
that  we  had  much  better  have  wanted  this  mock  appendage  of 
empire.  The  fiege  itfclf  produced  fcenes  of  fuch  flupenduous 
dcftruclion,  that  they  cannot  be  perufed  without  horror.  Nine 
years  of  peace  have  fincc  elapfed,  and,  in  that  time,  including 
file  endlefi  expence  of  fortifications,  it  is  probable  that  Gib- 
raltar has  coft  us  at  leail  five  millions  ilerling  j  befides,  wc  have 
been  again  on  the  verge  of  a  war  with  Spain,  which  has  added 
a  comfortable  item  of  four  millioiis  to  the  debts  of  the  nation. 
If  the  amvjal  expence  of  Gibraltar  amounts  to  five  hundred 
ihoufand  pounds,  this  is  about  one  thirty-fecond  part  of  our 


*  The  Mnjor  of  a  Brltifh  regiment  who  fcrved  at  that  ficge, 
had  in  his  company,  on  his  arrival  at  Cuba,  an  hundred  and  nine 
healthy  men.  Of  tH~fe,  as  he  himfelf  told  me,  five  only  re- 
turned to  Europe. 

^        -  public 


CT^ 


■•' 


l!    II 


1 

( 

■ 

i 

n 

k 

I    H    1 

|»ubllc  rctenne.  Nothing  hut  the  power  of  its  dirpoHil  can  ob- 
tain for  a  Britifti  minifter  a  majority  in  the  Houfe  of  Commonsi 
Three  hundred  and  twenty  members  are  about  the  ufual  num- 
ber under  his  influence  *  ;  and  therefore  the  patronage  of  Gib- 
raltar may  be  conjeftured  to  purchafe  ten  votes  in  the  market 
of  St.  Stephen's  chapel +i 

Though  writers  have  prcfumcd  to  fpecify  the  annual  charge 
ofGibraltar>  an  exaft  eftimate  cannot  poflibly  be  obtained* 
The  public  accounts  are  prefented  to  parliament  in  a  (late  of  in- 
extricable confufion.  Indeed^  their  immenfe  bulk  would  alone 
be  fufficient  to  place  them  far  beyond  the  teach  of  any  human 
comprchenfion;  A  finglc  circumftance  may  ferve  to  Ihbw  thd 
way  in  which  parliamentary  bufmefs  is  commonly  performed. 
A  ftatute  was  pafled  and  printed  fome  years  agoj  containing 
three  fucceffne  references  to  the  //>/>/>•- first  dayof  November^ 

For  a  foreign  conteft,  our  government  is  moft  wretchedly 
adapted.  In  the  war  of  17 561  Frederick,  that  Shakefpcare  of 
kings,  fought  and  conquered  five  different  nations.  In  the 
courfe  of  his  miraculous  campaigns,  he  neither  added  a  fmgle 
import,  nor  attempted  to  borrow  a  fmgle  (hilling.  At  the  fame 
time  our  boafted  Earl  of  Chatham  was  overwhelming  this  coun- 
try with  taxes,  and  contrafting  an  annual  debt  of  fifteen  or 
twenty  millions  fterling.  With  a  more  deftruftive  minifter  no 
nation  was  ever  curfcd.  Yet  this  man  we  prefer  to  Sir  Robert 
Walpolct  a  ftatefman,  whofe  maxim  it  was  to  keep  us,  if  pof- 
fible,  at  peace  with  all  the  world.  i  •„    y. 

•  In.  1662,  Dunkirk,  then  poffeflcdby  England,  coft  an  annual 

*  When  the  whole  ftrength  of  each  party  is  called  forth,  a 
minority  are  commonly  within  an  hundred  voices  of  the  minifter, 
which  correfponds  with  tolerable  accuracy  to  the  computation  in 
tlie  text.  In  the  regency  queftion,  Mr.  Pitt,  with  the  whole 
nation  at  his  back,  muftered  only  two  hundred  and  fixty-nine 
members.  "  ;    " 

+  In  the  Spanilh  negociation  in  17 5:7, 'the  Earl  of  Chatham 
(then  Mr.  Pitt)  propofed  to  cede  Gibraltar  to  Spain,  and  again, 
in  1761,  he  offered  it  as  the  price  of  the  Faanly  CompaS,  Vide 
His  Life i  in  two  large  volumes  jufl  publiflied.  This  propofal 
evinces,  that  the  fortrcfs  was  not,  in  Mr.  Pitt's  opinion,  of  much 
importance  to  Britain, 

-   ^;;---'  c-^'^i'-    .      cxpencc 

.    ■'  f    ^ 


fpoGil  can  ob- 
df  Commonsi 
le  ufual  num- 
nage  of  Gib- 
n  the  market 

.  S  V,   -         \ 

innual  charge 

be  obtainedi 

n  a  ftate  of  in- 

k  would  alone 

of  any  human 

e  to  {ht>w  the 

ily  performed, 

^oj  containing 

of  November^ 

ft  wretchrdly 

)hakefpeare  of 

tions.     In  the 

dded  a  fmgle 

At  the  fame 

ing  this  coun- 

of  fifteen   or 

e  minitter  no 

to  Sir  Robert 

ep  us,  if  pof- 

coft  an  annual 

ailed  forth,  a 
f  the  minifter, 
omputation  in 
ith  the  whole 
ind  fixty-nine 

:1  of  Chatham 
in,  and  again^ 
mpaa.  Vide 
This  propofal 
lion,  of  much 

expencc 


t     ^5     ] 

fcxperice  of  an  hundred  and  twenty  thoufand  pounds.  At  the 
fame  period  the  whole  revenues  of  the  nation  did  not  amount  to 
eleven  hundred  thoufand  pounds.  The  retention  of  the  town 
muft  have  proved  a  hot-bed  of  future  wars  with  France.  Charles 
the  Second,  at  this  time  fold  it  to  Lewis  the  Fourteenth,  for  the 
fum  of  four  hundred  thoufand  pounds.  This  was,  I  believe,  the 
only  wife,  laudalilc,  or  even  innocent  aftion  of  his  tcign.  It  had 
almoft  produced  a  rebtlion  ;  and,  as  Mr.  Hume  obferves,  "  has 
«<  not  had  the  good  fortune,  to  be  juftificd  by  any  J-iatty." 

Domeftic  improvement  is,  in  all  cafes,  more  advantageous 
than  military  acquifition.     Yet  in  the  great  outlines  of  out 
hiftory,  wc  have  inccflantly  forfaken  the  formcr>  to  purfue  the 
latter.     James  the  Fir{t»  though  in  private,  and  even  in  public 
life,  univerfally  delpifed,  was  one  of  the  beft  fovercigns  that 
ever  fat  on  the  Britilh  throne.     Without  a  fmgle  quality  which 
could  recommend  him  to  our  efteem,  he  preferved  the  Engliib. 
nation,  though  much  againft  their  will,  in  peace,  during  his  en- 
tire reign  of  twenty-two  years.     Hence  both  iflr-.nds  made  ra- 
pid advances    in   wealth   and    profperity.      "  Never,"    fays 
Stowe,  *'  was  there  any  people,  lefs  confiderate,  and  lefs  thank- 
"  ful  than  at  this  time,  being  not  i^illing  to  endure  the  memory  of 
"  their  prefent  hapbiiie/s,"     On  the  fame  principles  of  rapine, 
which  didated  the  retention  of  Dunkirk,  James  has  been  fe- 
rerely  blamed  for  delivering  back  to  the  Dutch  three  of  their  for- 
tified towns,  which  had  been  put  into  the  pofTcflion  of  Eliza- 
beth.    Mr.  Hume  has,  with  much  propriety,    'ndicated  his  con- 
duct.    Had  it  been  pofiible  that  the  life  of  fuch  a  prince,  and  the 
tranquillity  of  this  country,  could  have  been  prolonged  to  the  pre- 
fent day,  it  is  beyond  the  power  of  Britilh  vanity  to  conceive  the 
accumulated  progrefs  of  Britifli  opulence.     Both  iilands  would, 
long  before  this  time,  have  advanced  to  a  ftata  of  cultivation,  not 
inferior  to  that  of  China.     The  produftions  of  the  foil,  and  the 
number  of  inhabitants,  might  have  exceeded,  by  tenfold,  their 
prefent  amount.     Public  roads,  canals,  bridges,  and  buildings  of 
every  defcription,  muft  have  multiplied  far  beyond  what  our  moft 
fanguine  wilhes  are  capable  of  conceiving.     A  ftiort  review  of  the 
deftrudion  committed  by  foreign  wars  within  the  laft  hundred 
-:^ ' .  M  '  -'  '  year*  , 


[     26     ] 

years  of  our  hiftory,  can  hardly  fail  to  amufe,  and  may  perfiap* 
inllruft  the  reader.  .  .     . 


CHAP.     IV. 


t 


facilis  ejl  de/ccvfus  Averni, 

*Tis  eafy  into  hell  to  fall ; 
But  to  get  out  again  is  all. 


ViRC. 


'•'f. 


npHE  ground  01  the  firft  war,"  fays  Dr.  Swift,  "  after 
-*-  th'j  Revolution,  as  to  the  part  we  had  in  it,  was  t9 
make  France  acknowledge  the  late  king,  and  to  recover  Hud. 
*■  fort's  Bay.  But  during  that  whole  war  the  fea  was  almofl: 
entirely  negledlcd,  and  the  greateft  part  of  fix  millions  annu^ 
allji  employed  to  enlarge  the  frontier  of  the  Dutch.  For  the 
king  was  a  general,  but  not  an  admiral ;  and  although  king 
of  England,  was  a  native  of  Holland. 

"  After  ten  years  of  fighting,  to  little  purpofc,  after  the  lofe 
of  above  an  hundred  thou  [and  meny  and  a  debt  remaining  of 
tnf'.uiy  millionsy  we  at  length  hearkened  to  the  terms  of 
Peace,  whicJi  was  concluded  with  great  advantages  to  the 
Empire  and  Holland,  but  none  at  all  to  us  *." 
This  account  does  not  give  us  much  encouragement  to  fend 
for  a  fecond  fovereign  from  Holland.  Dutch  generofity  ap- 
pears to  have  proved  a  very  miferable  bargain.  It  is  hardly 
poflibie  that  jamer.,  with  all  Jiis  priefts  and  dragoons,  could 
have  committed  one  hundredth  part  of  this  havock.  So  much 
for  a  Proteilant  hero,  and  a  glorious  Revolution.      :•  :.v     .  - 

William  afcended  and  fupported  h's  throne  by  a  feries  of  tl>e 
meancft  and  moll  difgraceful  expedients.  He  excited  Argylc 
and  Monmouth  to  rebellion.  He  bribed  the  fervants  of  Jame» 
to  betray  to  himfclf  the  fecrets  of  their  mafter.     He  inftrufted 


*  'J'he  Conduct  Qf  the  Allies. 


thcfo 


d  may  pcriiap* 


a5=55E 


Vjrc. 


Swift,  "  after 

in  it,  was  t9 
o  recover  Hud. 
ea  was  almoJSt 

millions  atmu^ 
^utch.     For  the 

although  king 

?,  after  the  lofe 
)t  remaining  of 
)  the  terms  of 
vantages  to  the 

>ement  to  fend 

generofity  ap- 

It  is  hardly 

ragoons,  could 

Dck,    So  much 

'  a  feries  of  tl>e 

jxcited  Argyle 

rvants  of  James 

He  inftrufted 

thefe 


'fi 


[     ^7     ]' 

tliefc  miniftcrs  to  drive  the  King  of  England  into  thofe   very 
nieafures  vvhieli  forced  a  Revolution*     lie  was  bafe  enough  iQ 
deny  the  ligitimacy  of  the  Prince  of  Wales ;  he  taught  two 
thanklcfs  daughters  to  forfake,  and  ruin^  and  infult  their  father* 
VVhen  embarking  for  this  country,  <'  he  took  Heaven  to  wit- 
*<  nefs,  that  he  had  not  the  leall  intention  to  invade  or  fubdue 
«  the  kingdom  of  England,  much  lefs  to  make  himfclf  mailer 
*'  thereof,  or  to  invert  or  prejudi-ce  the  lawful  fucceflion  *.'* 
James  had  quarfeilcd  with  die  Church  of  England,  and  this  was 
one  of  the  chief  c.  »cs  of  his  deftrudlion.     Yet  all  the  bifliops, 
except  eight,  as  well  as  many  temporal  peers,  refufed  to  ta':e 
the  oaths  to  the  new  government ;  and  Bancroft,  Archhifhop  of 
Canterbury,  who  had  been  at   the  head  of  the  oppofition  to 
James,  was,  along  with  five  otlier  bifliops,  depofed  lor  liis  re- 
fufal.     The  convention  parliament  who  made  William  King  of 
England,  were  ele3cd  by  hiw.felfi  and  contained,  belides  other 
extraordinary  materials,  y5/9>>  members  of  the  Com?non  Council  of 
London,     With  this  very  parliament  he  was  immediately  on  the 
worft  terms ;  and  Sutherland,  Marlborough,  and  Admiral  Ruf- 
{<{,  with  many  other  chiefs  of  his  party,  entered  into  a  confpi- 
racy  for  his  expulfion.     The  Irilh  rebels  had  forfeited  lands  to 
the  value  of  three  millions  three  hundred  and  twenty  thoufand 
pounds.     This  inimenfe  property  William  divided  alraoft  alto- 
gether among  his  Dutch  favourites,  and  the  Countefs  of  Ork* 
ney,  an  Englilh  concubine,  whofe  fervices  were  rewarded  with 
an  eftate  of  twenty-fix  thoufand  pounds  a  year ;  while,  at  the 
fame  time,  with  the  moll  fordid  ingratitude,  he  turned  his  back 
on  the  family  of  Monmouth,  who  had  been  his  tool  and  his  vic- 
tim.    Thefe  afts  of  robbery  were  rcverfed  by  parliament.     I 
pafs  over  the  tragedies  of  Glencoe  und  Darien,  for  on  fuch  a 
charader,  they  relle(^  no  peculiar  reproach.     William  was  the 
father  of  our  public  debt,  which  he  multiplied  as  much  as  pof- 
fible,  that  befides  other  me:m  purpofes,  he  might  attach  to  his 
jperfonal  fafety  the  creditors  of  the  natioi^.     As  to  parliament, 
an  1690,  the  Speaker  "  promifed  to  the  king  to  manage  hijj 


*  Macpheffon's  Hiftory  of  Britain,  vol.  i,  chap.  8. 


M 


II  '■',- 


r  28  ] 

"  own  party,  fro'vld/d  he  V'{^fji  br  fnrnljbcd  nviih  moftry  to  pnr- 
<*  rhnfe  I'otcs*."  His  majcfty  confonted.  In  the  pro^jn-fs  of 
tliis  confpiracy,  his  agent  was  expelled  rrom  i!)e  lioufe  ot'Comr 
mons,  for  accepting  from  the  City  of  l,ondon  a  liribc  of  a, 
thoufand  guineas.  A  bribe  of  ten  thoufand  poimds,  from  the 
J''aft. India  Company,  "  was  traced  to  the  king+  ;"  a  magiftrate, 
whofe  ofiice  it  was  to  fign  the  warrant  for  executing  a  pick- 
pocket. William  cxtinguifhcd  this  inquiry  by  a  prorogatioHt 
<«  Thus  ended,"  fays  the  hillorian,  «  a  ivreh/jed farce,  in  which 
*'  the  feeble  efforts  fop  obtaining  juftice  were  fcarce  lefs  dif- 
f<  graceful  than  venality  itfelf,"  On  the  2Qth  December  1697* 
the  Commons  granted  William  feven  hundred  thoufand  pounds 
a  year  for  the  fupport  of  the  civil  lift.  This  comprehended 
fifty  thoufand  pounds  a  year,  which  he  promifed  to  pay  to 
King  James's  queen  as  her  jointure^,  and  fifty  thoufand  pounds 
a  year,  which  he  dcx  •'.nded  as  neceffary  to  eftablifti  the  houfe- 
hold  of  the  Duke  of  Gloucefter.  To  the  queen  he  never  paid 
a  farthing,  and  to  the  Duke  only  fifteen  thoufand  pounds  a 
year.  This  prince  died  on  the  24th  of  July  1700,  and  in  1701 
the  Commons,  after  a  violent  debate  with  the  adherents  of  the 
pourt,  compelled  William  to  refund  the  fifty  thoufand  pounds, 
which  he  had  engaged  to  pay  to  the  exiled  queen  ;  and  abo^•e 
twenty  thoufand  pounds,  which  the  Duke  of  Gloucefter  had 
left  behind  himij:.     Mr.  Pitt  complains  of  authors  who  publifti 

*  Macphcrfon's  Hiftory  of  Great  Britain,  vol,  i,  chap.  10, 

f  Ibid.  vol.  2,  cliap.  2. 

Ij;  Macphcrfon,  vol.  ii,  chap.  3  and  4.  The  hiftorian  has  re- 
lated this  anecdote  in  fuch  a  manner,  that  we  cannot  learn  what 
fums  the  exiled  queen  ought  to  have  received.  When  her  join- 
ture is  twice  mentioned  in  chapter  3,  he  calls  it  fifty  thoufand 
pounds  a  year,  Eut  alter  four  years,  in  chapter  4,  he  contra- 
d'l'^h  this  ftatement,  by  informing  as,  that  William  had  retained 
th'  fifty  thoufand  pounds  diie  to  lier,  which,  with  the  reverfion 
by  the  death  of  the  Duke  of  Gloucefter,  amounted  to  "  nearaxi 
f  hundred  thoufand  pounds."  By  the  account  ;n  chapter  3,, 
^he  whole  fums,  including  intereft,  (hould  have  been  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty  thoufand  pounds. 

This  miftake  is  hardly  worth  notice  here,  but  is  mentioned 
jnercly  to  fliew  that  one  may  fometimes  be  forced  to  feek  a 
way  through  very  difcordant  mateyiaJs, 


'  7no»ry  to  pNr- 
he  j^rojjrrfs  of 
Dufc  oFCop.;- 
a  bribe  of  ^ 
ids,  from  the 
'  amagiftrate, 
uting  a  pick- 
i  prorogation, 
jrcet  in  which 
irce  lefs  dif- 
cember  1697, 
ufand  pounds 
omprehended 
d   to  pay   to 
ufand  pounds 
li  the  houfe- 
le  never  paid 
nd  pounds  a 
,  and  in  lyoi 
erents  of  the 
fand  poundsi 
I J  and  above 
louccfter  had 
who  pubJifh 

,  chap.  10, 

orian  has  rc- 
•t  learn  what 
hen  her  ioin- 
hy  thoufand 
,  he  contra- 
had  retained 
the  reverfion 
to  "  near  an 
I  chapter  3,, 
n  about  two 

5  mentioned 
1  to  feck  a 

Jihcl^ 


[  29  ] 

libels  on  the  Revolution.  To  forbid  a  perfon  from  pubUfliing 
his  fcntimcnts  on  a  hillorical  event  which  happened  above  an 
hundred  years  ago,  is  in  itlelf  an  example  of  the  utmoft  info- 
knee  of  dcfpotifni.  To  dcpofe  one  tyrant  was  highly  proper  j 
but  it  was.not  lefs  fooiifh  to  exalt  another  *, 

Morf  cr)fiinorc  honour^  fays  the  ]irovcrb  ;  and  by  this  rule  th« 
Revolution  was  certainly  a  more  fplcndid  tranfadlion  than  the 
ration  had  ever  feen.  "  The  expences  of  England,  from  th« 
'<  landing  of  the  Prince  of  Orange  on  the  5th  of  November 
*<  1688,  to  the  agth  of  September  1691,  had  amounted  .0  neai 
♦<  EIGHTEEN  MiLLioxs.  Bcfules,  great  arrears  were  owing 
f*  to  the  army  in  Ireland,  the  navy  was  drjiittftc  ofjiorcsy  and  the 
f'  /kips  lucre  out  of  repair  \."  In  1693,  a  bill  pafled  both 
Houfes,  providing  for  annual  fcfilons  of  parliament,  and  a  new 
eleftion  once  in  three  years.  I'o  this  bill,  the  founder  of 
ENGLISH  freedom  rcfufcd  his  aifcnt,  which  in  1694  was  ob- 
tained by  coinpulfion.  After  having  told  all  tlie  world  for  ten 
years,  that  James  had  impofcd  a  fpurious  prince  upon  the  na- 
tion, he  engaged  in  1697,  to  obtain  that  prince  to  be  declared 
his  fucceffor  i.  A  man  of  common  fpirit  would  rather  have 
been  a  chimney  fweeper  than  fuch  a  fovcrcign. 

As  for  the  inferior  aftors  in  the  Revolution,  wc  may  inquire 
nuhat  ha-ve  they  done  ?  They  did  not  transfer  the  load  of  taxes 
from  the  ;■  )orto  the  rich.     They  did  not  extirpate  entails,  and 

*  SmoUet's  charader  of  William  is  a  curious  jumble. 

"  He  was  religious,  temperate,  ^^(f»^m//)'y2z/i?andy/;/f^r<'. — He 
<'  involved  thefe  kingdoms  in  foreign  connexions,  which,  in  all 
«  probability,  will  \.c  produBi-ve  of  their  rtiin^  He  fcrupled  not 
*<  to  tm^Xoy  all  the  engines  of  corruption.  He  entailed  upon  the 
<'  nation  a  growing  debt,  and  a  fyftem  of  politics  big  with 
f<  mifery,  dcfpair,  and  deftrudion."  The  reft  of  this  paifagc  is 
too  long  for  infertion  \  but  the  author's  inference  appears  to  be, 
that  William  was  the  moft  ruinous  fovereign  who  ever  fat  on 
the  throne  of  England, 

f  Macpherfon,  vol,  ii.  chap,  i.  All  our  continental  wars  an4 
fubfidies,  from  1688,  to  this  day,  muft  be  af(;ribed  to  the  Re-, 
■volution, 

I  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  chap.  3.  The  author  adds,  «  The  fuccef-r 
*<  ibrs  provided  by  the  aft  of  fettlement,  he  either  defpifed  ot 
♦<  ftbhorrcd,'*    Thefe  were  the  iUuftrious  Houfe  of  Brunfwick. 

rotten 


I  ,'■ 


r  30  ] 

rotten  boroughs.  Thr)  Vi  1  not  cftahlifli  an  iimvcrfal  right  of 
confcience,  and  an  univfrHil  right  of  titizcnfliip.  Thtydidnot 
advance  even  a  finglc  llcp  towards  exalting  the  inotely  parliament 
rf  Kngland  into  the  adiial  reprefentatives  of  a  free  people.  They 
did  not  avoid  a  niofldclhiKilivc  and  endlefs  quarrel  en  the  con- 
tinent. They  did  not  reduce  the  civil  lill  even  to  the  prodigal 
ellablithmcnt  of  Charles  the  Second  *.  They  did  not  extirpate 
■  the  moft  abfurd  and  extravagant  prerogatives  of  the  fovereign, 
to  adjourn  or  dilTolvc  a  parliament  at  plcafure,  to  baftardi/.e  a 
peerage  with  the  puppets  of  defpotirm,  to  interpofe  a  rcfufal 
to  the  moil  neceflary  laws,  and  to  plunge  at  his  will  three  na- 
tions into  blood  and  bankruptcy.  H'hat  then  did  they  do  .^  They 
obtained  for  their  countrymen  a  right  to  petithn  the  crown +, 
They  fctf'^d  the  fuccefrion  on  a  family  whom  their  hero,  for 
what  reafon  he  bell  knew,  defpij'ed  and  abhorred.  The  whole 
work  was  a  change,  not  of  mcafures,  but  of  mailers.  Where 
then  (lands  the  diiFerence  between  the  trimmer  Halifax,  and  the 
trimmer  Thurlow  ;  between  Sutherland  the  traitor  to  all  parties, 
and  our  Hibernian  panegyrill  of  the   Bailile  ?     The  Duke  of 

*  Fiz.  Four  hundred  and  fixty  thoufand  pounds.  The  fetf 
tlement  of  feven  hundred  thoufand  pounds  is  no  doubt  one  of 
tliofe  ivipimdinvholcfcmc  provisions  fo  gratefully  referred  to 
in  Mr.  Pitt's  late  proclamation.  There  can  be  no  queftion,  that 
in  the  courfe  of  an  hundred  years,  the  civil  lift  has  reduced  many 
hundred  thoufands  of  his  Majefty's  ^^ fuithful  and  louing  fub- 
**  jetts"  to  l>eggary.  That  the  njoeahji  come  alnvays  to  the  nxsorfti 
is  a  trite  obfervation.  The  principal  hardlhips  of  every  tax 
tnuft  in  the  lalt  refort  fall  upon  the  poor.  At  this  day  the  civil 
lijl,  with  all  its  abyfs  of  appendages,  abforbes  above  ele\  en 
hundred  thoufand  pounds  per  annum  of  Englifh  money.  This 
expence  would,  at  lealt  in  Scotland,  be  more  than  fufficient  to 
maintain  two  hundred  and  fifty  thoufand  paupers,  for  thofe  in 
the  poor's  houfe  of  the  parifh  of  St.  Cuthbert's,  near  Edin,- 
burgh,  coft  but  about  four  pounds  each  per  a»nunt. 

Hence  it  follows,  that  the  royal  eftabliihment  is  in  fadl  equal 
to  an  eftabliihment  of  many  myriads  of  beggars.  As  to  the 
ELECTORAL  HOARD,  wc  havc  curious  and  authentic  informal 
tion,  but  this  fubjeft  deferves  a  chapter  by  itfelf. 

+  They  might  as  well  have  fpoke  about  the  right  of  blowing 
one's  nofe.  Yet  this  miferable  ftipulation,  extraded  from  the 
very  dregs  of  flavery,  has  been  thought  of  infinite  confequence, 

Marlborough 


^rfal  right  of 
They  (lid  not 
:ly  parliament 
'ocplc.  They 
1  (  M  the  con- 
'  the  prodigal 
not  extirpate 
he  fovc  reign, 
baflardi/c  a 
ofc  a  rcfufal 
ill  three  na- 
•ydoi'  They 

IE   CROWN  +, 

eir  hero,  for 
The  whole 
ers.  Where 
ifax,  and  the 
o  all  parties, 
'he  Duke  of 

s.  The  fet.. 
oubt  one  of 
r  referred  to 
[ueftion,  that 
:duced  many 

loving  fuh- 
to  the  ivor/ff 
f  every  tax 
lay  the  ci'vil 
bove  ele\  en 
)ney.  This 
fufficient  to 
for  thofe  in 

near  Edin,- 

n  faft  equal 
^  As  to  the 
ic  informaf. 

of  blowing 
d  from  the 
ifeqnence. 

arlborougll 


[    3»     ] 

Marlborough  g;ivc  a  jud  account  both  of  the  Whigs  and  Torletj 
«  I  do  not  believe,"  faid  hi-,  "  that  cither  party  is  fwayed  by 
««  any  true  principles  ofconfcicncc  or  honeily.  Their  profcf- 
"  fions  arc  always  different ;  their  views  precifely  the  fame* 
"  They  both  ^^rafp  at  the  poflcllion  of  power;  and  the  Prince 
"  who  gives  them  the  moft  is  their  greatod  favourite  *."  Were 
farther  evidence  wanting,  Burnet,  himfelf  both  a  whig  and  a 
courtier,  tells  us  that  the  v\  higs  Jet  e'very  thing  to  J'ale.  Ha 
complained  of  the  praftice  of  bribing  parliament  to  the  king, 
and  William  afiured  him,  that  it  nvas  not  pojjible  to  help  it. 

As  a  p:irtial  defence  of  our  anccftors  it  may  be  urged,  that  in 
the  end  of  the  laft  ccntur)',  the  nation  was  unripe  for  a  rational 
conftitution.  But  fince  we  know  this  to  be  true,  why  are  we 
difturbcd  with  rhapfodics  on  one  of  the  moft  queftionable  com- 
binations that  ever  deformed  hiftory  ?  Does  any  body  compare 
the  packed  convention  parliaments  of  the  two  kingdoms,  in 
i68g,  with  the  democratical  members  of  the  firft  national  affem- 
bly  of  France  ?  As  well  might  we  parallel  Charles  Jenkinfoa 
with  the  Duke  of  Sully,  or  the  aflaffm  ofCulloden  with  the 
conqueror  at  Bannockburn.  Did  the  philofophical  and  concife 
decrees  of  the  French  patriots  grovel  in  the  feudal  jargon  of 
fubjcdling  a  people  and  their  pofterity  forever  to  the  afllgnees 
of  a  Dutchman  who  was  univerfally  detefted  ?  As  well  might 
we  fancy  a  refemblance  between  the  daubing  of  a  fign-poft,  and 
the  pencil  of  Reynolds,  or  the  exercife  of  a  fchool-boy  and 
the  ftanzas  of  Buchanan. 

Upon  the  whole,  as  William  betrayed  James  into  feveral  of 
thofe  crimes  by  which  a  revolution  became  neceffary,  his  me- 
mory is  an  objeft  not  of  refpeft  but  abhorrence.  His  conduft 
was  like  that  of  an  incendiary  who  firft  fets  fire  to  your  houfe» 
and  then  claims  ten  times  the  worth  of  the  whole  building  for 
liis  fervice  in  quenching  it.  To  praife  him  and  his  revolution, 
difcovers  an  ignorance  of  hiftory,  or  a  contempt  of  common 
honefty.  It  is  as  much  a  burlefque  upon  reafon,  as  when  a 
King  of  England  calls  himfelf  King  of  France  ;  or  as  when  a 


*  Macpherfon,  volt  ii,  chap,  8, 


pcrfon, 


t     3^     3 


i 


JJerfon,  like  llcnry  the  Kitilitli,  whofc  word  is  triiftcd  by  no* 
body,  affiiines  for  his  title  Diftmler  of  the  Faith. 

But  fince  the  authors  ot"  the  revohition  did  not  furpafs  the  di" 
minutivc  lUndard  of  Court  integrity,  why  has  our  temple  of 
venality  *  for  folong  a  time  rcfoundcd  with  the  wretched  larum 
of  whig  families  and  whig  virtues  ?  Why  Ihould  eommon  men 
ivandcr  from  their  natural  and  jull  progrefs  to  obfcurity,  and 
mock  the  attention  of  future  ages  ?  Had  Archimedes  been  only 
the  bcft  archer  at  the  ficge  of  Syraeufe,  had  Columbus  lived 
and  died  but  the  moll  exjK*rt  pilot  in  the  port  of  Genoa,  had 
the  eloquence  of  Shakcfpcare  flirunk  to  a  level  with  the  drama- 
tick  mulhrooms  of  this  day,  thefe  memorable  bencfaftors  of 
mankind  had  vanilhed  into  inilant  oblivion.  Had  Thomas  Paine 
been  nothing  fuperior  to  a  vagabond  feamen,  a  bai '  rupt  ftay* 
maker,  a  difcarded  excifemi'n,  a  porter  in  the  ftreets  of  Phila- 
delphi,  or  whatever  elfe  the  infanity  of  Grub-ftreet  chufes  to 
call  him,  an  hundred  thoufand  copies  of  his  writings  had  never 
announced  his  name  in  every  village  on  the  globe,  where  the 
Englifh  language  is  fpoken,  nor  would  the  rays  of  royal  indig- 
xution  have  illuminated  that  charaflei  which  they  cannot  fcorch. 


OR 


ss 


CHAP.    V. 


II 


Nulla   unquam   de   morte   hominis   cunSIalio   louga   rJJ» 
No  delay  as  to  the  death  of  a  man  is  ever  too  long,     j  u  venal, 

TN  the  war  which  ended  by  the  peace  of  Ryfwick,  feven  hun- 
-*•  dred  millions  fterling  were  fpent,  and  eight  hundred  thou- 
fand men  periHied,  yet  none  of  the  parties  gained  one  penny  of 

*  In  the  Anecdotes  of  Lord  Chatham,  we  are  told  that  Mr. 
Pelham  was  intrufted  with  nx>hat  is  uj'ally  called  rm  pocket 
LIST  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  COMMONS  ;  and  Mr.  Pitt  fometimes 
faid  to  his  friends,  "  I  was  obliged  to  bohrow  the  Duke  of 
Newcaftle's  "  7najoritji  to  carry  on  the  public  bufmcfs." 

money, 


lifted  by  no* 

iirpafs  the  di* 
ur  temple  of 
!tchcd  larum 
:oininon  men 
)fcurityi  and 
Ics  been  only 
iimbus  lived 
Genoai  had 
h  the  drama- 
cncfaflors  of 
"homas  Paine 
u '  Tupt  ftay» 
:ct8  of  Phila- 
et  chufes  to 
gs  had  never 
if  where  the 
royal  indig- 
innot  fcorch. 


JUVENAL, 

feven  hun- 
mdred  thou- 
)ne  penny  of 

old  that  Mr. 

HB   POCKET 

tt  fometimes 
he  Duke  of 
Kk," 

moneyi 


[     33     1 

tnoncvi  or'almud  one  foot  of  territory.  In  1693,  Lewis  macle 
very  ample  offers  ft)r  peace  which  William  refuft-d.  Had  WiU 
liam  acctptf d  tlicA-  offers  of  Lewis,  ••  the  war  of  the  firit  grand 
«<  alliance  would  have  ended  /our  ytan  fooncrtluiN  it  ilUly  and  the 
<«  war  of  the  fccond  grand  alliance  might  have  bnti  prenjintcd*,^ 
«♦  During  fume  years  previous  to  the  peace  of  Ryfwick,  the 
<•  price  of  corn  in  Knglaiid  was  double^  and  in  Scotland  qua- 
«<  litttpU'm  ordinary  rate  ;  and  in  one  of  thofe  years,  it  ^vas  be* 
«<  licvcd  that  in  Scotland  eighty  thou/and peoph-  diedofn.vaut\,** 

The  war  which  followed  the  Revolution  coll  England y/>/f 
millions  jlerling  \.  Let  us  fuppofc  that  an  equal  (liare  of  this  fuin 
was  fpent  in  each  of  the  nine  years,  during  which  it  lafted,  and 
at  lix/fr  cent,  the  rompound  intercft  of  the  fums  advanced  annu- 
ally up  to  the  peace  of  Ryfwick  in  1697,  amounts  to y^/iTiTt 
tnillions Jlerling,  Four  thoufand  merchantmen  were  taken  by 
the  enemy  § ;  and  De-Foe,  in  one  of  his  pamplets,  tells  usj  that 
the  damage  in  this  way  had  been  computed  at  twenty  millionsi 
The  intercft  of  this  fum,  ertimated  in  the  fame  manner  with  that 
pf  the  public  expences  up  to  the  peace,  will  produce  five  mil- 
lions. But  that  our  calculations  may  be  perfedly  fafe,  let  us 
bring  down  both  principal  and  intereft  to  fifteen  millions^  and  wei 
Ihall  pafs  over  the  expence  of  at  lead  four  thoufand  bankruptciesi 
and  ten  times  that  number  ol  lawfuits.  The  different  fuma 
above  fpecified  extend  to  ninety  millions  fterling.  Let  us  next 
put  the  cafe  that  this  money  had  been  placed  at  a  compound  in- 
tereft of  five  per  cent,  ||     At  the  end  of  ninety-eight  years  from 

*  Memoirs  of  Great  Britain  and  Irelam',  partiii*  booL  10* 

"H  Ibid,  part  iii.  book  ^. 

X  Ibid.  Part  iv.  book  I.  *        •     ■  '  '  ' 

^  Macpherfon,  vol.  ii,  chap4  7; 

II  The  legal  intereft  of  money  was  not  reduced  from  fix  pet 
tent,  to  five,  till  the  twelfth  year  of  Queen  Anne.  The  writer 
of  the  Memoirs  of  Great  Britain  obferves,  that  in  thofe  days, 
parliament  found  more  difficulty  in  borrowing  at  eight  per  cent* 
than  we  do  now  in  getting  money  at  four.  Lord  North  paid, 
and  we  have  ftill  the  fatisfaftion  of  paying  fix  ot/e^rn  per  cent, 
for  the  money  that  fupported  his  American  war ;  and  this  is 
known  to  all  mankind,  with  it  feems  a  fingle  exception.  At 
/cur  per  tent,  we  could  not  raife  a  fmglc  fhilling, 

»  the 


r  34  ] 


n 


ihr  peace  of  Ryfwicl'.i  that  is  to  fay  in  f7q7»  thcfo  ninety 
millions  would  have  lioublcil  fhcmfclvcs  I'x.iiilly  fcven  tiinr«r 
and  the  final  produce  would  have  hern  ei,kven  i  housaxd- 
Fivr    HUN'IJRED    AND      IWENTY     MILLIONS     STFRLINC,    Of 

a  dividend  o^ eLven  hutrired  ami  J/fty-tnvo  poiimli  to  evt-ry  indi- 
vidual inhai)itant  of  Britain.  This  fum  is  equal  to  the  difchargc 
of  our  national  debts  forty-eight  times  ovrr,  and  is  five  hun- 
dred and  fcventy-five  times  greater  than  the  whole  gold  and 
filver  coin  at  prefcnt  in  the  three  kingdoms.  Such  has  becnr 
the  price  of  ^  DutcS)  frontier^  and  of  Hud/on' s  Bay,  As  Britain 
and  Ireland  are  faid  to  contain  an  hundred  and  four  thoufand 
fquare  miles,  if  the  money  had  been  employctl  in  the  improve- 
ments of  agriculture,  it  would  have  fupplied  a  fund  of  an  huti~ 
tln'd  and  one  thoujund  one  hundred  and  fifty-three  pounds  ff teen 
/hillings  and  elerjen  pcnccj  and  fe^en  thirteenth  parts  of  a  penny  for 
each  fquare  mile.  This  fum  is  much  more  than  upon  an  average 
the  whole  landed  property  of  both  iflands  is  worth  *. 

An  objcftion  may  be  advanced  to  this  ftatement,  that  a  great 
part  of  the  fixty  millions  thus  expended  by  government  wzsem- 
hfzzJcd  among  onrflvcsy  and  that  as  it  never  aftually  went  out 
of  the  country,  luc  are  not  at  this  day  a  farthing  poorer  than  if  the 
money  had  never  been  raiftd.  If  we  might  oppofe  the  language 
of  common  fcnfe  to  the  jargon  of  political  fophiftry,  I  would 
anfvvcr,  that  when  a  grazier  in  Yorklhirc  has  been  knocked 
down  and  robbed,  he  cares  but  little  whether  his  guineas  are  to 
be  ftaked  at  the  gaming  tables  of  Paris  or  of  London.  But  wc 
flijill  admit  that  the  Dutch  adminiftration  like  all  thofc  which 
have  come  after  i'o  was  a  fccne  of  inexprelfible  infamy;  that  thirty; 
millions  out  of  ihc  fixty  were  pilfered  in  their  road  to  the  fer- 
vice  of  tlie  public  j  and  that  the  peers  and  others  who  ftole  this 
money  applied  their  plunder  to  ends  as  honeft  as  could  have  been  ' 
devifed  by  the  farmers  and  tradefmen  who  were  ftripped  oFit» 
This  is  not  very  feafible,  for  what  is  won  in  a  bad  way  is  com-* 

*  In  the  Memoirs  of  Great  Britian  and  Ireland,  the  author 
eftimates  the  mere  lofs  of  labour  to  the  contending  nations  during 
the  nine  years  of  war,  at  ninety  millions  Sterling,  exclufive  of 
the  addition^  lofs  of  labour/or  life^  by  the  mutual  flaughter. 

monly 


thcfo   ninety 
)'  fcven  UrAcur 

NJ    1H01TSAKI> 
TFRLINn,    or 

to  cvrry  indi- 
tlic  iliTchargc 
I   is  fivt'  hun- 
loli-  golil  and 
5iich  hn,  beciT 
As  Britaiit 
four  thoiifand 
the  itiiprove- 
d  of  n»  huu' 
pounds  ffteen 
ofaptiiny  for 
)n  an  average 

that  a  great 
nent  was  em- 
Hy  went  out 
er  than  if  the 
the  language 
try,  I  would 
!en  knocked 
uineas  are  to 
)n.     But  wc 
thofc  which 
'•J  that/>6/>A|* 
I  to  the  fer- 
Jio  dole  this 
d  have  been 
■ipped  of  k^ 
vixy  is  com-* 

the  author 
ions  during 
:xclufive  of 
aughter. 

inonl/ 


f    85    3 

inonly  fpcnt  in  a  worfc  one  ;  but  let  us  proccctl.  In  cftiinatlng 
till*  cxponces  of  the  war,  there  was  r^w///f</;in  artiile  of  lufs  at 
\v.y[\  cquivalinl  to  thelc  thirty  millions.  It  has  been  obfcrvcil, 
th:it  ;i  worlirnan  can,  upon  an  avcrane,  earn  about  ti-n  (liillin^i 
a-'vcek,  which  in  London  is  at  prermt  about  half  tlie  cumnioii 
wages  of  a  journt*yinan  taylor.  Reduce  this  to  twenty-live 
pounds /<'rfl////«//T,  and  his  life  may  be  clUmatcd  at  twelve  yc.ir» 
purchafe,  or  three  hundred  pounds  in  value  to  the  public.  In 
the  war  in  queflion,  wc  loft  au  hundred  thoufand  men,  and  b/ 
this  moderate  and  fiinplo  computation,  the  price  of  their  blood 
to  Hrit.  in  was  not  wortli  Icfs  than  thirty  million:.  Sterling.  Evea 
this  number  of  an  liumlrcd  thoufand  lives  is  moll  likely  far  Icfji 
than  the  adlual  dcftrudion.  Four  tiioufand  merchant  (hips  wcrq 
taken  by  the  French  privateen,  and  thefe  alone  nuiR  have  rc- 
tjiiircd,  ojic  with  another,  twelve  or  thirteen  mariners,  which 
gives  us  an  amount  of  fifty  thoufand  prifoners;  of  whom,  be- 
fjdes  the  numbers  killed,  at  Icall  ten  or  rilteen  thoufand  would 
pcrilh  of  jail  diftcmpers,  of  their  wounds,  of  cold  or  hunger, 
and  above  all,  of  a  broken  heart. 

As  the  pillage  of  public  money  \&  one  of  the  worft  confe- 
quenccs  of  war,  I  Ihall  here  fay  fomcthing  farther  on  that  fub- 
jeft.  In  1695;,  Knight  and  Duncombe,  two  members  of  the 
Houfe  of  Commons,  weie  expelled  for  having  forged  indorfe- 
jincnts  on  Exchequer  bills.  Duncombe  confcffed  the  chargci 
and  his  fliare  of  the  booty  had  extended  to  four  hundred  thoum 
fand  pounds.  I  am  not  informed  what  was  the  amount  of 
Knight's  plunder ;  or  that  ot  feveral  others  who  were  concerned. 
The  Coraipons,  in  a  fit  of  purity,  palTed  a  bill  to  fine  Duncombe 
in  half  his  eftate.  By  the  flatute  laws  of  England,  he  IhoulcJ 
have  fuffercd  death.  The  bill  for  hi?  fine  was  rejeded  in  the 
houfe  of  Lords  *,  by  the  cafting  vote  of  the  Duke  of  Leeds, 
who  was  himfelf  a  fwindler  of  the  firft  diftinftion.  The  Farl 
of  Chefterfield  had  fome  reafon  for  terming  that  houfe  an  !iof» 
pital  of  Incurables,  Salmon  tells  us,  that  the  miniftry  gave 
ivhatever  intereft  and  premiums  w  ere  demanded  for  the  loan  of 

rr'        •  •       '  .  .  .,  ,      , '  '     ■» 

f  Memoirs  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland;  part  iii,  book  4» 

£  a  money 


[    35    ] 


money,  and  that  provifions  and  naval  ftorcs  were  taken  up  at 
an  advance  of  thirty,  forty,  -"nd  fometimes  fifty  per  c,nt» 
above  their  proper  price.  Bur,  Indeed,  after  the  dimiflion  of 
Mr.  Diincombe,  'with  his  four  hundred  thoufnnd  pounds  in  hit 
pocket,  every  charge  of  this  kind  becomes  perfectly  credible. 

Whether  in  the  prefent  age,  matters  have  been  much  mcndcuj 
there  was  nobody  better  able  to  inform  us  than  the  laf"  Earl  of 
Chatham.  "  Tlicrc  is  a  fet  of  men,"  fays'  he,  "  in  the  city  of 
«'  London,  who  are  known  to  live  in  riot  and  luxury,  upon  the 
♦«  plunder  of  the  ignorant,  the  innocent,  and  the  nclplefs,  upon 
«<  that  part  of  the  community,  which  ftands  mod  in  need  of, 
"  and  beft  dcferves  the  care  and  proteftion  of  the  legiflature, 
*'  To  me,  my  Lords,  whether  tliey  be  miferable  jobbers  of 
"  Change  Alley,  or  the  lofty  Afiatic  plunderers  of  Leadenhall 
"  Street,  they  are  all  equally  deteftable.  I  care  but  little 
**  whether  a  man  walks  on  foot,  or  is  drawn  by  eight  horfes, 
*'  or  by  fix  horfes ;  if  his  luxury  be  fupported  by  the  plunder 
*'  of  his  country,  I  defpife  and  abhor  him.  My  Lords,  while 
<«  I  had  the  honour  of  fcrving  his  Majefty,  /  never  ventured  to 
«'  look  at  THE  TREASURY,  but  from  a  dijiance  ;  it  is  a  bufinefs 
"  I  am  unfit  for,  and  to  which  I  never  could  hav^e  fubmitted, 
"  The  little  I  know  of  it>  has  not  ferved  to  raife  my  opinion 
*<  of  what  is  vulgarly  called  the  monied  intereji  ;  I  mean  that 
*'  BLOODSUCKER,  that  MUCKWORM,  which  calls  itfclf  the 
«  friend  of  Government,  which  pretends  to  ferve  this  or  that 
«  -.dminiftratlon,  and  may  be  purchafed  on  the  fame  terms  by 
*♦  any  admi/iij} ration.  Under  this  defcription  I  include  the 
«<  whole  race  of  commiflioners,  jobbers,  contraftors,  clothiers, 
f*  and  remitters*." 

1  he  war  of  1 689  is  at  this  day  almoft  forgotten,  in  the  blaze 
of  more  recent  and  Itupendous  follies.  Yet  the  prefent  (hort 
Iketch  of  thofe  calamities  which  it  produced,  cannot  fail  of 

*  Vide  his  fpeech  in  the  debate  on  Falkland's  lilands,  which 
has  been  re-printed  in  the  Anecdotes. 

This  quarrel  ended  like  others,  in  our  difappointn;ent,  and 
perhaps  difgrace.     Befides  much  expence  and  trouble  ^'o  indi- 
viduals, the  nation  fqua:idered  between  three  and  four  millions 
'ft?f|ing,    ^id-vi:  infanef 

leading 


i 


[    37     ] 

K^acling  «s  info  fomc  melancholy  refleftlonr,  on  the  general  ten- 
dency of  ri.e  milifiry  fyfteni.  War  may  produce  advantage  to 
a  race  of  barbarians,  who  have  nothing  to  do,  and  nothing  to 
lofe  ;  ))ut  for  a  commefcial  nation,  it  can  be  no  better  than  an 
alderman  doferting  his  ledger,  to  bet  in  a  cock-pit.  Of  thia 
fyltem  there  is  no  part  more  injurious  than  that  which  enjoins 
the  capture  of  merchant  fhip.s.  An  honcft  mariner  has  by  the 
labr.ur  of  half  his  life  earned  a  thoufand  pounds,  and  embarks 
his  whole  property  in  a  veflel  freighted  f'om  Leith  or  Dunkirk. 
He  is  boarded  by  an  enemy'f.  privateer ;  his  cfFefts  are  for- 
feit-.'d  ;  and  e  himfelf  is  to  rot  for  fix,  or  twelve,  or  eighteen 
months  in  a  French  or  Englifli  jail ;  while  his  wile,  his  chil- 
dren, or  pcrhaos  his  father — but  this  part  of  the  pidlure  becomes 
too  fhocking  for  the  contemplation  of  humanity.  Of  thefc 
matters,  kings  or  courtiers  almofl  never  think.  At  a  certain 
elevation,  the  human  heart  feems  to  contraft  'A/roJi  more  impe- 
netrable than  the  fummit  of  the  Alps  or  the  Andes.  It  would 
be  an  aufpicous  event  for  mankind,  if  all  the  Ihips  of  war  in 
the  world  could  be  reducf  d  to  afhes  in  one  day. 

We  have  adopted  a  fancy,  that  frequent  hoftilities  are  una- 
voidable. Yet  the  Swifs,  a  nation  of  foldiers,  and  placed  in  the 
midft  of  contending  tyrants,  have  hardly  been  thrice  at  war  in 
the  courfe  of  three  centuries.  The  reafon  is,  that  their  go- 
vernments are  founded  on  wifdom,  benevolence,  and  integrity  ; 
while  ours  brea'he  only  maxims  of  a  lefs  amiable  nature*. 
Other  inftances  from  the  hiitory  of  our  own  ifland  may  be  ad- 
duced to  the  lame  purpofe.  "  For  more  than  a  century  after  the 
*«  memorable  year  1 189,  there  was  no  national  quarrel*  nor  na* 
*<  tional  war  between  the  two  kingdoms +."     This  circumftance 

*  «  The  republics  of  Europe  are  all,  and  we  may  fay  always 
«*  in  peace.  Holland  and  Switzerland  are  without  wars,  foreign 
♦'  or  domeftic ;  monarchial  governments,  it  is  f'e,  are  never 
«'  long  at  reft  ;  the  crown  itfelf  is  a  temptation  to  enterprifing 
««  ruffians  at  home ;  ana  that  degree  of  pride  and  infolence,  ever 
«*  attendant  on  regal  authority,  fwellsinto  a  rupture  with  foreign 
«'  powers*  in  inftances  where  a  republican  government!  by  being 
"  formed  on  more  natural  principles,  would  negociate  the 
»•  miilake."     CommoK  Senfe, 

t  Annals  of  Scotlandj  by  Lord  Hjolesi  vol,  i.  p*  133. 

becomes 


[    38    ] 


it' 


t; 

I 
it 


becomes  the  more  remarkable,  becaufe,  at  that  time  our  an- 
(ceftors  were  fit  for  almoft  nothing  elfe  but  fighting.  The  fatal 
conteft  that  began  '\n  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  ccntur}-,  fprung 
from  the  ambition  of  Edu-ard  the  Firft.  The  refpeftive  na- 
tions lived  in  a  profound  peace,  and  were  alike  folicitous  to 
preferve  it, 

From  the  year  1403,  to  the  battle  of  Flodden,  in  1513,  be- 
ing a  fpace  of  an  hutidr-ed  and  ten  years,  peace  was  maintained 
between  the  two  kingdoms,  with  V2ry  little  interruption  ; 
though  fometimes  there  was  a  war  which  hardly  lafted  above  a 
fingle  campaign,  Durin<;  the  long  and  bloody  ftruggle  between 
the  houfcs  of  York  and  Lancafter,  the  Scots  interfered  only 
once  or  twice  at  moft,  and  that  was  at  the  earned  defire  of 
the  Englilh  exiles ;  but  they  formed  no  ungenerous  and  im- 
j>radicable  plans  of  conqueft.  Even  to  Flodden  they  were 
driven  by  the  temerity  of  their  fovereign ;  and  his  fortunate 
death  put  an  inftant  end  to  hoftilities.  Our  anceftors,  w  l:om  we 
confider  as  barbarians,  were  unacquainted  with  the  deliberate 
fyftematic  thirft  of  blood  which  marks  a  modern  politician  ;  and 
"what  quarrels  they  had,  arofe  from  the  folly  of  their  feveral 
monarchs.  We  have  not  enjoyed  ten  years  of  peace  together 
fince  the  Revolution.  Even  when  we  ceafe  to  fight  in  Europe, 
a  war  muft  imm  idiately  commence  in  Afia,  or  Africa,  or  Ame- 
rica, and  in  the  face  of  all  this  work,  we  call  ourfelves  the  hap- 
pieft  people  in  the  world, 

Peace  may  be  confidered  as  the  univerfal  parent  of  human 
happinefs.  Induftry  cannot  long  thrive  without  it,  and  to  thi$ 
we  are  indebted  for  a  great  part  of  our  comforts,  our  enjoy^ 
uents,  and  our  refources.  Spain  has  long  been  envied  for  hes 
gold  and  filver  mines,  which,  by  Dr.  Robertfon's  accoimt,  have 
in  two  centuries  and  a  half,  produced  above  two  thoufand  mil- 
lions fterling.  But  fober  induftry  is  vaftly  more  valuable  than 
all  the  mines  in  the  world.  •  If  we  can  forbear  butchery,  we 
need  uot  defpair  of  difcharging  every  penny  of  our  public  debt| 
witii  eafe,  in  lefs  than  a  century ;  or  if  we  Should  not,  ftill  the 
property  of  the  nation  would  increafe  with  fuch  rapidity,  that 
the  debt  itfelf  muft  be  hardly  felt,    To  make  this  truth  evi,. 


t    39    1 

^ent,  let  ns  attend  to  what  follows*  As  a  counterpart  to  t^rf 
bubble  of  Falkland's  Iflands,  four  millions  fterling  have  lately 
been  expended  on  a  Spanilh  convention.  Had  they  been  placed 
out  at  five  per  cent,  of  compound  intereft,  they  would  in  ninety- 
right  years  have  produced  five  hundred  and  twelve  millions 
fterling,  and  at  prefent  one  half  of  this  latter  fum  would  be 
more  than  fufficient  to  difcharge  all  our  incumbrances,  and 
m?.ke  us  as  free  of  debts  as  oar  grandfathers  were  when  the 
Prince  of  Orange  landed.  It  is  true,  that  the  job  government 
of  Britain  cannot,  like  that  of  a  Swifs  canton,  place  money  at 
intereft,  but  from  calculations  of  this  fort,  we  may  form  a  con- 
jefture,  as  to  what  we  aie  capable  of  faving,  by  confidering 
what  we  have  fpent.  The  American  war  alone  added  about 
One  hundred  and  fifty  millions  to  our  public  debt,  and  yet  we 
are  in  reality  a  richer  nation  than  when  that  war  began  *.  Our 
funds,  as  we  call  them,  have  not  hitherto  recovered  the  (hock, 
but  that  is,  in  fpite  of  common  prejudice,  a  happy  circumftance. 
Had  THE  YOUNG  MAN  been  able  to  borrow  money  with  equal 
facility  as  his  father,  we  (hould  certainly  have  been  fcourged 
into  a  Spanifh  war.  Now,  though  the  country  has  recovered^ 
and  though  our  commerce  is  greatly  fuperior  to  what  it  had 
ever  before  been,  it  is  evident,  that  if  we  had  not  poffefTed  an 
almoft  inexhauftible  vital  principle  of  reproduftion  and  accumu- 
lation, fo  great  a  havock  of  property  as  an  hundred  and  fiftyr 
or  even  an  hundred  millions  flerling,  muft  have  reduced  whole 
t»rovinces  of  this  ifland  to  a  defart.  Such  a  complete  recovery 
from  the  lofs  of  more  than  an  hundred  millions  in  lefs  than  tci» 
y»ars,  prefents  ui  with  a  regular  annual  overplus  of  at  lealV  (ix 

*  On  the  fubjeft  of  national  improvement,  the  reader  may 
confult  with  advantage  Dr.  Campbell's  Political  Survey  of  Bri- 
tain ;  ^n  Eftimate  of  the  Comparative  Strength  of  Britain,  dur- 
,  ing  the  prefent  and  two  preceding  reigns,  by  George  C'ialmersr 
•  ilfq.  and  a  continuation  of  this  latter  workr  by  the  fame  ele- 
gant and  profound  writer,  pi\  jliflied  about  fix  months  ago.  Our 
preffes  are  groanin^nder  controverfial  divinity,  heraldy,  blank 
verfe,  commentaries  on  Shakefpeare,  and  every  other  imagin- 
able fpecifs  of  nonfenfe,  while  the  books  here  referred  to,  have 
net  in  thij  country  been  honoured,  as  I  am  informed,  with  cvea 
a  fcgond  editioni 

...     .  ,  Ql 


[     40    ] 


tit  eight  millions.  But  tliAt  we  may  not  ovcrdioot  the  marki 
let  us  rate  the  clear  annual  profits  of  Britifh  commerce  and  agri- 
culture at  only  five  millions.  We  (hall  find  that  this  yearly 
accumulation  of  fl;ocks  with  the  legal  compound  intcreft  only, 
amounts,  in  twenty-eight  years,  to  three  hundred  millions.  So 
that  by  a  peace  of  twenty-eight  years,  we  fnall  become  a  more 
opulent  nation,  than  we  would  be  at  this  moment  were  all  our 
debts  paid  off  to  the  laft  farthing. 

Before  we  call  this  profpedl  extravagant,  let  us  confider  what 
has  adlually  happened*  The  moft  fanguine  projedor,  thirty 
years  ago,  would  not  have  prefumed  to  believe  that  four  mil- 
lions fterling  were  by  this  time  to  be  employed  in  extend-.ng 
and  adorning  a  fmgle  city  in  Scotland.  Yet  this  progrefs  of 
elegance  continu>  f  vi^c  upon  us  like  enchantment.  Who  in 
the  laft  century  wuv-  ave  fufpefted  that  hy  this  time  our 
North  American  colonies  were  to  contain  four  millions  of  in- 
habitants ?  It  muft  be  owned,  that  befides  other  evils,  Gib- 
raltar, Canada>  Nova  Scotia,  Botany  Bay,  the  Eaft  India  Com- 
pany, and  the  civil  lift,  are  a  fort  of  political  millftones  hang- 
ing at  the  neck  of  Britilh  profperity.  Yet  fuch  are  our  re- 
fources,  that  if  we  chufe  to  defift  from  the  war  fyftem,  our 
wealth  muft  in  the  courfe  of  fifty  years  extend  beyond  all  cal- 
culation. Mr.  Fox,  if  providence  fhall  continue  t )  blefs  u» 
with  his  abilities  till  that  period,  will  not  then  have  the  fmalleft 
difficulty  in  obtaining  a  penfion  of  forty  thoufand  pounds  a  year 
for  every  defcendant  of  the  royal  family.  Three  ungrateful 
nations  will  then  ccafe  to  affirm,  that  for  his  conduft  in  a  cer- 
tain debate  *,  any  other  man  would  have  deferved  a  flogging  at 

every 

*  f''t^e  his  fpeeches  in  parliament  on  the  fettlement  of  the 
Duke  of  York.  If  the  clerk  of  a  counting-houfe  were  to  lofc  at 
the  gaming-table  a  thoufand  pounds  of  his  mafter's  money,  or 
even  of  his  own,  he  would  be  difcharged  as  unworthy  of  truft* 
There  is  a  man,  who  is  faid  to  have  loft  five  hundred  thoufand 
pounds  in  that  way,  and  when  he  had  thus  reduced  himfelf  to 
bankruptcy,  we  have  fcen  him  preferred  to  the  management  of 
an  annual  revenue  of  fixtecn  millions  fterling.  It  is  difficult  to 
conceive  a  more  gigantic  inftance  of  ftuoidity  and  depravity  than 
fuch  a  choice.     That  a  Houfc  of  Commons  (hovjld  adopt  a  mi, 

.nitter 


[     41     J 

every  whipplng-poft  in  England.  At  that  liappy  perlot!^  we 
ftiall  fupport,  without  winching,  an  hundred  Lords  of"  the  Bed- 
chamber, and  as  many  Lords  of  the  NccefTary  Houfc.  With 
thefe  crumbs  of  comfort,  I  proceed  to  the  war  of  the  Spanifii 
fucccflion,  a  legacy  from  our  Dutch  benefador. 


CHAP.     VL 


England  has  been  the  prey  of  jobs  ever  fmce  the  Revolution. 

Paine; 

/^  HARLES  the  Second  King  of  Spain  had  no  children ;  he 
^-^  was  of  declining  years,  and  a  feeble  conftitution.  There 
were  three  candidates  for  the  inheritance  of  his  dominions,  the 
Emperor,  the  Dauphin  of  France,  and  the  Eleftoral  Prince  of 
Bavaria.     The  Emperor  claimed  right  as  male  reprefentative 

nifter  of  this  fort,  is  quite  in  charaSler;  but  that  individuals,  who 
hive  the  happinefs  of  their  Country  at  heart,  fhould  applaud  fuch 
a  feleftion,-  muft  fill  every  fober  man  with  aftonilhment.  To 
fweep  off  large  fums  at  the  gaming-table,  is  a  difhonourable 
dirty  praftice.  Mr.  Fox,  in  the  boundlefs  diverfity  of  his  <.d- 
venturesi  muft  have  ruined  many  a  family,  and  fent  many  a 
helplefs  woman  with  forrow  to  the  grave. 

In  the  manufcript  of  a  tour  in  Switzerland^  which  I  have  feeni 
the  following  paffage  deferves  peculiar  attention.  «  At  Bern, 
«*  a  heavy  penalty  is  impofed  upon  any  perfon,  who  in  one  day 
**  fliall  lofe  more  than  two  pounds  five  fliillings  iterling  by  gam- 
«  ing  5  and  every  member  of  government,  and  officer  in  public 
*'  fcrvice,  is  obliged  to  take  an  oath,  not  only  that  he  (hall  faith- 
"  fully  and  honourably  obferve  this  law,  but  that  he  Ihall  zea- 
**  loufly  maintain  it,  and  that  he  (hall  freely  and  impartially  give 
«  information  againft  all  perfons  who  to  his  knowledge  fhall 
«  offend  againll  it.  The  prefence  of  fome  of  thofe  diftinguifh- 
«  ed  perfons  in  all  good  companies,  proves  in  faft  an  in\incible 
««  bar  to  immoderate  play."  With  what  contemptuous  pity 
would  a  Swifs  hear  us  prattling,  that  our  government  is  \X\?. 
fw-ry  of  the  world  ! 

V  la 


[       42       J 


•BJ 


■« 


P  r. 


•If 


to  t1»e  family  of  Auftria.  Philip  the  Fourtl-,  prcdcccflbr  ancf 
fa'her  to  Charles,  had  left  behind  him  two  daughters  by  dif- 
ferent marriages.  The  cldelt  was  mother  to  the  Dauphin;  the 
youngcil  had  efpoufcd  the  Emperor,  and  their  daughter,  an  only 
furviving  child,  had  been  married  to  tlic  Eledor  of  Bavaria,  to 
whom  Ihe  had  born  that  Prince  who  was  at  prefent  a  candidate. 
It  fecms  that  the  Dauphin  of  France,  a&  defccnding  from  the 
eldefl  daughter  of  Phillip  the  Fourth, had  the  neareft  right;  but 
as  the  other  nations  of  Europe  were  extremly  jealous  of  Franccy 
it  was  early  forefeen  that  the  Dauphin's  claim  would  meet  with 
2  dangerous  oppofition..  On  the  ift  of  Odlober  1698,  the  King 
of  France,  the  King  of  England,  and  the  Republic  of  Holland, 
engaged  in  a  contract  as  to  this  fuccefiion.  Their  bargain  was, 
that  the  Dauphin  (hould  fuccecd  to  the  kingdoms  of  Naples  and 
Sicilly,  and  a  certain  portion  of  the  provinces  of  Spain  itfelf. 
The  other  two  candidates  were  to  niare  the  reft  of  tl?e  domi- 
nions, and  this  agreement  hath  fince  been  called  thcfiji  treaty 
of  partition.  So  vaft  an  acceftion  of  territory  would  have  ren- 
dered France  a  moft  formidable  neighbour  to  the  Dutch,  and 
on  their  part  the  treaty  feems  to  have  be-  i  aft  of  imprudence. 
The  fecrct  of  this  combination  having"  come  to  light,  Charles 
in  a  rage  inftantly  made  a  teftament,  by  which  he  transferred  the 
whole  dominions  of  Spain,  to  the  young  Prince  of  Bavaria* 
But  as  the  latter  died  foon  after,  he  made  a  fecond  will,  by 
which  he  bequeathed  the  fucceffion,  alfo  entire,  to  the  Arch- 
duke Charles,  the  Emperor's  fecond  fon,  by  a  marriage  which 
he  had  entered  into  after  the  death  of  his  Spanifh  emprefs, 
Tlie  former  parties,  on  the  14th  March  1700,  engaged  in  z/e- 
cond  treaty  of  partition,  by  which  the  Dauphin  was  to  receive  a 
large  addition  to  his  fliare,  and  the  remainder  was  refcrvcd  for 
the  Emperor.  This  tranfaftion  alfo  reached  Charle?,  before  it 
was  clofed ;  and  in  Augull  1 699,  his  ambaflador  at  London  de- 
livered to  the  Englilh  miniftry  an  interefting  appeal  on  the  con- 
duft  of  William.  He  remarked,  that  ^^fuch  proceedings  were 
allowed,  no  people,  no  dominion  could  be  fafe  againft  the  am- 
bition of  the  ftrongeft,  and  the  deceits  of  the  moft  malicious  ; 
that  Ihould  ftrangera  be  fufFered  to  put  their  hands  into  the  lines 

of 


[     43    1 


of  faccclTion  of  kings,  no  ftatutcs,  no  munklpal  laws  would  he 
obfervcd  ;  that  no  crown  could  be  free  from  the  attempts  ot* 
aliens ;  and  the  crown  of  England  lefs  than  any  crown ;  and  that 
were  men  to  lie  watching  for  the  ficknefs  of  fovereigns,  no 
health  could  be  conftant,  and  no  life  fccure.  He  alfo  reminded 
them,  that  the  cxpenccs  of  a  war,  and  the  deftrudion  of  com- 
merce, mud  be  the  certain  confequcnce  of  fuch  adventurer. 

For  this  lioneft  produdion,  the  ambaffador  was  forced  to 
leave  England.  On  the  2d  of  Odobcr  1700,  the  King  of 
Spain,  by  the  advice  of  the  Pope,  made  a  third  teltament.  To 
|)ut  an  end  to  all  projects  of  a  pirtition,  he  left  the  whole  em- 
pire, undivided,  to  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  the  fecond  fon  of  the 
l^auphin  of  France,  and  grandfon  to  Lewis  the  Fourteenth, 
By  this  choice,  he  attempted  to  avert  the  calamities  of  a  dif- 
jputed  fucccflionl'  For  as  the  Duke  of  Anjou  was  not  heir  to 
the  crown  of  France,  that  circumlbmcc  removed  the  objcftiore 
of  making  a  hazardous  augmentation  to  the  French  domini- 
ons. This  meafure  was  more  limbic,  juft,  and  practicable,  than 
that  adopted  by  William  and  the  Dutch.  On  the  25th  No- 
vember 1 700,  Charles  died  ;  and  though  he  bequeathed  fuch  a. 
fplendid  legacy  to  the  houfe  of  Bourbon,  he  had  been  one  of 
William's  allies  in  his  laft  long  and  bloody  war  againft  France ; 
a  fad  which  evinces  the  mutability  of  the  political  world. 

On  the  death  of  their  fovereign,  the  Spanilh  nation  deter- 
tnined  that  a  confpiracy  of  foreigners  fliould  not  be  fuffered  to 
partition  their  provinces.  They  difpatched  a  courier  to  the 
court  of  France  with  the  teftament  of  their  late  fovereign,  and 
if  Lewis  Ihould  refufe  to  accept  the  monarchy  for  his  grand- 
fon, they  gave  him  orders  to  proceed  to  Vienna,  and  make  an 
offer  of  the  univerfal  fucceflion  to  the  Archduke.  Thus  Lewis 
had  his  choice  of  two  meafures.  If  he  accepted  the  teftament 
of  Charles,  his  grandfon  was  at  once,  and  without  oppofition* 
put  into  poffeffion  of  the  Spanifh  dominions,  at  the  hazard  of  a 
quarrel  with  the  Dutch  and  England,  If  he  refufed  this  offer> 
the  Auftrian  Archduke  was  with  equal  certainty  to  afcend  the 
throne,  and  Lewis  was  to  depend  on  the  very  doubtful  friend- 
iliip  of  his  old  enemies,  the  Dutch  and  England,  for  their  affift- 


r  41  1 


i 


.1 


ance  to  conquer  a  flmrc  of  vSpain,  in  oppofition  to  the  Emperor 
and  that  nation.  But  as  Lewis  hinifclt'  was  feared  and  hated 
both  i  }lollana  and  England,  there  is  not  the  Icaft  probabilit}> 
I  ^t  he  "  uld  '.lavc  obtained  any  ferioiis  aid  in  his  pretcnfions, 
.ron  UiZ  two  countries.  We  cannot  therefore  with  reafoii 
condemn  him,  when  he  accepted  for  the  Duke  of  Anjou  the 
offer  of  the  SpaniO^  crown.  The  reader  is  requei\ed  to  pay  par- 
ticular attention  to  this  concife  and  candid  llatc  of  the  cafe  ; 
for  even  at  prefent,  it  is  the  vulgar  opinion  that  Lewis  adleJ 
upon  this  occafion  with  treachery.  It  woidd  be  more  proper 
to  fay,  that  William  enga;!;ed  in  an  enterprife  far  above  hi^ 
power,  and  that  he  Ihcwed  an  utter  indifference  to  the  intefell 
of  his  Iviiu;d()nir,.  '^I'hc  preference  v/hich  the  Spaniih  n;uion  be- 
ftowcd  upon  the  Yhikc  of  Anjou,  was  in  the  moral  fenfe  an  am- 
ple vindication  of  the  acceptance  of  Lewis.  If  there  be  fuch  a 
thing  as  equity  upon  earth,  it  muft  begin  with  this  maxim,  that 
a  people  are  at  all  times  entitled  to  their  choice  of  a  mailer. 

Oil  the  17th  of  April  1701,  William  acknowledged  the  Duke 
of  Anjou,  as  the  lawful  fovereign  of  Spain,  by  a  letter  under 
his  own  hand.  'I'he  Dutch  alfo  recognized  his  right.  On  the 
7th  of  September  thereafter,  William,  with  his  wonted  confift- 
cncy,  entered  into  an  alliance  with  the  Emperor  and  Holland 
to  attack  the  young  monarch.  The  defign  avowed  in  the  ar- 
ticles was,  to  obtain  the  Dutchy  of  Milan  from  the  crown  of 
Spain,  as  a  compenfation  to  the  Emperor ;  and  Flanders,  oy 
part  of  it,  as  a  barrier  for  Holland.  What  England  was  to  ob- 
tain, we  are  not  informed.  On  the  6th  of  September  1701* 
James  the  Second  expired^  and  Lewis,  on  his  death,  acknow- 
ledged his  fon  as  King  of  England.  Though  this  was  but  an 
empty  form,  William  employed  it  as  a  pretence  to  feduce  the 
nation  into  a  fecond  waf.  His  projeft  was  embraced  with  exuU 
fation  by  all  parties. 

Yet  though  Lewis  was  to  blame,  we  oqrfelves  had  behavetl 
tut  little  better.  Our  affumed  title  as  Kivg  of  France^  is  not 
only  adiihonourable  untruth,  but  a  wanton  infult  to  a  refpedlabl^ 
tjeople,    Williaiii  prepared  for  a  campaign,  but  happily  botjj 


'         [     45     ] 

for  others  and  himfclf,  a  fall  fiom  his  horfc  put  an  end  to  hli 
brurl'M  ami  his  treaties,  on  the  8th  of  Marcli  1702*. 

Before  wc  enter  into  the  events  of  this  war,  it  may  not  be 
vrpr:>\M'r  to  illudratc,  by  an  exail  and  intcrcfting  parallel,  what 
D»'.  'nvift  calb  "  our  infamous  treaty  of  partition."  Let  ut 
fuppofi ,  that  ior  fome  years  before  the  death  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth', ;\ll  fuiropc  had  forefecn  that  (lie  was  to  die  thildlefs,  that 
Janies  the  Sixth  of  Scotland  was  to  be  her  fucceflbr,  and  that  by 
fuch  an  increafe  of  dominion,  England  was  to  cnfure  a  decifive 
Addition  of  power  and  importance.  "  No,"  exclaimed  the 
Dutch,  the  French,  and  the  Aullrlans,  "  we  cannot,  Elizabethi 
*<  permit  you  and  your  people  to  chufe  a  fovercign  for  Eng- 
*<  land.  We  ail  know  that  Mnjler\  James  is  a  fool.  He  ha« 
f  married  a  daughter  of  the  King  of  Denmark  j  and  hence 
«  the  Britilb  Empire  would  become  but  a  province  to  the 
f<  court  of  Copenhagen,  We  have  formed  a  much  better  plan, 
"  and  you  muft  adopt  it.  Jerfey,  Guernfey,  and  Plymouth, 
f*  Dover  caftle,  and  the  county  of  Kent,  are  to  compofe  a 
«*  frontier  in  the  hands  of  his  Moft  Chriftian  Majefty.     The 

—     '  ....■II  .       ■-  ■   —  ,1  ..I II    ■  ■      ■  I.         ■        ■■!    ■■ ■      ■        .■■l■■^    I   ■■!  »y 

*  In  drawing  up  this  ftatement,  Mr.  Macpherfon  has  been 
chiefly  followed,  v^ith  fome  additions  from  the  Memoirs  of 
Creat  Britain  and  Ireland,  printed  in  1788,  In  this  laft  work, 
-  William  is  every  where  reprefented  as  a  virtuous  and  fublime 
pharafter.  The  ftory  of  the  Countefs  of  Orkney,  and  the  trite 
cataftrophe  of  Darien,  with  many  others  of  the  fame  fort,  arc 
completely  explained  away.  The  partition  treaties  are  de- 
fended, as  pre^ant  with  future  blemngs  to  England ;  for  the 
hiftorian  feeras  to  fancy  that  the  Allies  could  have  divided  the 
provinces  of  Sp.iin,  with  the  exaftnefs  jind  tranquillity  of  a  grocef 
cutting  a  pound  of  cheefe.  The  fequcl  fufficiently  proved  the 
abfurdity  of  fuch  a  fuppofuion, 

This  writer  has  affigned  a  remarkable  reafon  foi  fending  into 
jhe  world  his  fecond  volume,  "  But  feeing  England  lately,  as 
«  I  thought,  on  the  brink  of  ruin,  becaufe  (he  was  on  the  brink 
•f<  of  a  continental  nuart  I  thought  that  the  piftares  of  mifery, 
«<  even  amid  fuccefs,  which  the  continental  wars  of  the  two 
«<  grand  alliance?  pjrefent,  might  make  the  public  attend  to  /^« 
f  profpea  before  them" 

It  is  impolfible  to  publifh  from  more  honourable  motives,  or 
yo  atteft  a  more  important  truth.  ,  >" 

-(-  Henry  Uic  Fourth  of  France  ufed  to  c^U  hiip  fo. 


r  ic^ 


1 
J 


I' 


«<  iflcs  of  Wight,  Anglcfca,  ami  Man,  inuft  be  clrlivcrcd  up  to 
*<  tlu'ir  Hij»h  Mij^litinclTo!;  for  the  convcnk'ncc  of  importing 
••  gin  ;  and  you  mu;t  Hkewifc  permit  them  to  catcli  and  cure 
«•  pilcliards  on  the  ccail  of  Cornvv.ill.  '^I'o  I rv land  you  never 
**  had  any  title  but  tliut  of  a  r(/bbcr,  and  as  you  are  detailed 
♦•  by  the  whole  nation,  to  the  very  lall  man,  it  is  neceffar)-,  for 
•*  prcfcrving  ihe  baluncf  of  p'/xver,  to  dcilarc  tlieni  independent. 
**  As  for  the  rod  of  your  dominituis,  we  have  hroui'.ht  you  a 
«•  German  maftcr,  born  at  the  diilance  of  a  thoufand  miles, 
*<  a  Itrangcr  to  your  country,  } our  laws,  jour  n^anncrs,  and 
«  your  language.  In  defence  of  his  right,  wc  have  difem- 
*'  barked  on  the  co;iil  of  Yorklliirc  two  hundred  thoufand 
«'  armed  rulHans ;  and  unlefs  you  inltantly  aeknowlcd^^e  him 
"  as  fucceflTor,  we  fl^all  fpread  defolation  from  Caithnef;;  to  the 
«  land's  end.  If  his  Danilh  majefty  declines  to  aflift  us  in 
*•  overwhelming  his  fon-'n-law,  oar  admirals  have  orders  to 
**  beat  Copenhagen  about  his  ears.  Wc  are  perfedly  deter. 
«  minted ;  and  before  we  give  up  the  point,  we  ihall  fpond  the 
"  laft  drop  of  our  blood,  and  the  lall  farthing  of  ou.-  money  ; 
•«  befidcs  diving  into  more  debt  than  our  polterity  can  pay  off 
*<  in  an  hundred  generations."  . 

On  the  4th  of  May  1702,  hc.lilities  were  declared  againft 
Spain.  *'  We  haftily  engaged  in  a  war,"  fays  Swift,  "  which 
«*  hath  coft  us  sixTV  millions,  and  after  repeated,  as  well  as 
•«  unexpefFed {accc{s  in  arms,  hath  put  us  and  our  pofterity  in  a 
"  worfe  condition,  not  only  than  any  of  our  allies,  but  than 
*<  even  eur  conquered  enemies  them/elves  *,"  The  two  firft  cam- 
paigns efcaped  without  any  decifive  event.  On  the  25th  of 
November  1 702,  the  Commons,  in  confequence  of  a  mendicant 
ineffage  from  the  Court,  afligned  the  yearly  fum  of  an  hundred 
thoufand  pounds  to  the  Prince  of  Denmark,   her  Majefty's 


♦  The  Conduft  of  the  Allies.  This  is  the  cafe  at  the  end  of 
almoft  every  war,  and  reminds  me  of  a  remark  made  by  Lord. 
Monboddo.  Somebody  once  aflced  him,  Whether  Europe  ot 
America  had  profited  moft  hy  the  difcoveries  of  Columbus  ? 
»*  The  balance,"  replied  his  Lordfhip,  "  is  pretty  equal.  We 
"  I  .ve  them  brandy  and  the  fmall-^ox  i  and  they  gave  us  rum 
n  mCi  the  great  f9K»\ 

hufband> 


.■;i-;-  *» 


s 


r  47  ! 


l\u(l)anJ,  in  cafe  he  ftiould  furvivc  her.  So  extravagant  a  pen- 
fion  confirms  the  remark  of  Mihon,  that  the  trappings  of  a  nn- 
fiarchy  ivould Jet  up  an  ordinary  commonivealth.  On  the  2Hth  d 
Ortolx't  1 70S,  the  Prince  died,  and  as  he  was  a  pcrfon  of  the 
moft  innocent  charader,  it  founds  hardily  to  fay,  that  his  exit 
was  defirablo.  Yet  had  he  outlived  Anne,  twenty  thoufanJ 
ncceiiitoiis  fanulics  muft  each  have  paid  five  pounds  a  year  of 
their  pittance  to  fupport  him.  And  t'.iis  finglc  impofition 
would,  while  it  lafted,  have  comprehended  more  fubftantiai 
injuftice  and  oppreflion  than  all  the  other  thcfti*  and  robberies 
in  the  country. 

In  September  1703,  Charles,  the  fecond  fon  of  the  Emperor 
Lcopoldr  was  declared  King  of  Spain,  and  as  fuch»  was  acknow- 
ledged by  all  the  Ailifs,  including  the  Dutch  and  England^ 
who  liad  both  formerly  recognized  the  title  of  the  French 
Prince.  It  is  needlefs  to  expatiate  on  the  jufticc  or  decency  of 
fuch  a  meafurc.  In  Auguft  1704,  Marlborough  won  the  battle 
of  Blenheim.  In  Odober  1706  Lewis  offered  better  terms  of 
pacification  than  nvere  afterguards  excepted.  With  what  pro-- 
priety  then  are  we  to  blame  his  ambition  ?  "  The  Whigs,"  faya 
Mr,  Macpherfon,  "  who  were  now  poffeffed  of  the  whole 
**  power  of  government  in  England,  itifulted  common  fenfet  in  the 
*'  reafon  which  thev  gave  for  rejetling  thq  propofed  peace. 
"  They  faid,  that  the  ^etms  offered  by  France  were  too  guod» 
*<  to  be  the  foundation  for  a  lafling  tranquillity,  and  therefore 
•<  tlicy  ought  not  be  admitted." — Had  Lewis  engaged  to 
reflore  Normandy  to  England,  that,  upon  Whig  principles^ 
would  have  been  a  ftill  better  reafon  for  rcfufing  an  agreement. 
Such  were  the  political  heroes  whofe  'virtues  we  vaunt  of  adopt- 
ing, and  by  whom  Europe  was  condemned  to  remain  for  fix 
years  and  five  months  longer,  a  fcene  of  confaiion,  diilrcfs,  and 
carnage  I  This  infolence  very  foon  met  with  its  reward.  On 
the  25th  of  April  1707,  an  entire  Whig  army  was  difperfed, 
taken,  or  extirpated,  at  Almanza,  by  the  Duke  of  Berwick. 
Sixteen  thoufand  of  the  vanquifhed  were  killed  or  made  pri- 
foners.  In  this  campaign,  the  Duke  of  Marlborough  atchieved 
nothing  worthy  of  his  former  fame.  Prince  Eugene,  with  forty 
,   •      •  '  '      thoufand 


[     48     ] 

tVnufarnl  men,  invaded  Provence,  nnd  invL-nod  Toulon.  Hi* 
forces  were  in  danger  of  being  Airroiinded,  and  his  efcapc  or 
flight  was  marked  with  the  iifual  and  heroic  circiiniftances  of 
flaiighter  and  dcvallation.  Four  Knglilh  men  of  war,  with  Ad- 
miral Shovel,  a  perfon  whofc  abilities  had  raifed  him  from  the 
rank  of  a  common  failor,  foundered  on  the  rocks  of  Scilly,  In 
lliort,  the  difadcrs  of  the  Allies  were  fo  numerous  and  fevere, 
that  Lewis  might  at  this  time  have  turned  the  chafe,  if  his 
counfels  had  not  been  governed  hy  an  old  woman.  The  Scots> 
by  a  bargain  Aifiiciintly  quellionablc  had  been  w/z/W  with 
England.  The  whole  nation  were  inllamcd  into  a  degree  of 
madnefs.  The  Pretender's  birth  dny  was  publicly  celebrated  at 
Jsdinbnrgh  ;  and  a  memorial  was  tra.ifuiitted  to  France  by  a 
number  of  nobility  ai  .:  gentry,  who  proioifed  to  embody  in  his 
favour  five  thoufand  horfe  and  twenty-five  thoufand  foot.  The 
piopofal  was  rcjeiled.  In  1708,  the  Allies  were  more  fuccefs- 
fujj  and  among  other  bleffed  events,  they  gained  Lifle,  with 
the  lofs  of  eighteen  or  twenty  thoufand  men.  For  what  no- 
table purpofes  have  we  dra^'ged  the  fmith  from  his  anvil,  and 
the  farmer  from  hir>  plow!  In  1709,  the  Government  bor- 
rowed from  the  Bank  of  England  four  hundred  thoufand  pounds^ 
at  fix  per  cent,  bcfidcs  granting  them  feveral  advantages^ 
which  may  have  raifed  the  real  intcrcft  to  ten  or  twelve  pef 
critt.  and  all  this  for  the  plcafure  of  making  a  German  King 
of  Spain.  The  pradicc  of  advancing  money  to  the  public 
was  at  that  time,  and  has  been  ever  fmce,  a  very  profitable 
tralHck  to  t'aofe  gentlemen  of  whom  Lord  Chatham  has  made 
fuch  honourable  mention.  Lewis,  in  the  beginning  of  this 
year,  had  renewed  his  offers  of  peace.  He  attempted,  as 
Tore}'  relates,  to  bribe  the  Duke  of  Marlboroughj  by  a  condi- 
tional prefent  of  four  millions  of  livres;  but  his  Grace,  after 
due  confide  ration,  declined  the  propofal.  The  aged  and  un- 
■fortunate  King  promifed  to  yield  the  nvbole  Spanijh  monarchy  t§ 
the  Hoiijc  of  Aiijlria  n.vithoiit  any  equivalent*.  He  confentcd  tO 
a  feries  of  the  moft  degrading  demands  which  his  enemies  v^ould 


M-.  ^herfon,  vol,  ii,  chap.  7, 


invent^ 


_  t    '19    ] 

Invent,  but  tliey  left  him  no  ch(jlic  between  rcfillance  and  Je- 
ftnitflion.  France  was  in  the  mean  time  ravajjcil  hy  a  tcrriblt-  l";i- 
ininci  which  fcrvcd  to  fill  up  the  moafuiv  of  univcrfal  wretth- 
cclncfs.  Whatever  we  may  thinic  of  Levis  himfcif,  and  even  a 
defpot  may  deffrvc  our  pity,  one  mull  have  the  nerves  of  ;• 
Dutchman  or  a  tf'hig,  if  he  dors  not  Kcl  for  tl»e  m^fcries  of 
twenty  millions  of  people.  On  the  loih  of  Sepfcmhcr  1709, 
thcfc  conferences  were  fucccedcd  by  the  virtory  of  Mulplaquet, 
which  Marlborough  purchafcd  with  the  lives  of  twenty  thoufand 
men,  while  the  Frenchi  though  deftated^  left  but  eig*^  «noufand 
dead  on  the  Held* 

In  tyio,  Lewis  made  freJh  offers  of  fubmlfTibn.      "  He  prd- 
"  mifed  even  a  fubfidy  of  a  million  of  livrcs  monthly  to  the 
«  Allies,  till  King  Philip  y55o//A/A^</>7f^»  out  of  Spain*,"     But 
mark  what  follows : — They  required   that  Lewis  fliould  aflill 
them  imlh  all  hit  furces^  to  expel  his  grandfon  from  the  throne 
of  that  kingdom.     We  need  not  enlarge  upon  the  bafenefs  of 
trampling  a  fallen  adverfary,  fince  our  ilhuUious  ancedors  might 
have  improved  their  morality  from  a  boxing  ftage*     A  ring  of 
chairmen  would  be  afhamed  oi  fuch   confummate  barbarity. 
Whether  Lewis  would  have  fubmitted  to  this  laft  aft  of  degra- 
dation is  doubtful,  for  Eugene  and  Marlborough  obftrufteJ  the 
progrefs  of  explanation,    and  commenced    the   campaign. — 
*<  They  gained   three    places  of  impirtance*    and  conquered 
«<  tv»^elvc  leagues  of  a  fine  country.     But  they  loft  twenty-fix 
«*  thoufand  men   by  the  fword.     Half  their  infantry  nuas  ruined 
«  by  wounds,  difeafes,  and  fatigue  +."    In  Spain,  we  obtained 
during  this  year  two  viAories.     Stanhope,  the  Englifh  general^ 
entered  Madwd .     "  The  army  lived  at  large  upon  the  people, 
«  without  order,  without  moderation,  and  without  difcipline. 
**  They  raifed  contributions  on  private  perfons.     They  pillaged 
"  the  churches  t  and  fold  publicly  the  utenJiU  of  the   altar  f." 
Nobody  can  be  forry  to  hear  that  on  the  8th  of  December  17109 
thefe  rufH^s  were  defeated.     Stanhope  himfelf  was  taken  pri- 
fonefi  with  five  thoufand  firitilh  troops. 

*  Macpherfonj  vol.  ii.  chap.  7.         t  Ibid,        %  Ibid. 


i 


[  50  J 

5y  this  time  the  nation  were  ahnofl:  tired  with  the  cxpencc  of 
this  war,  and  had  begun  to  fufpcA  the  abfurdity  of  its  firft 
principles.     But  as  t)^c  Cabinet  was  comletely  garrifoned  by  the 
partifans  of  Marlborough,  to  reverfe  the  fyftem,  required  both 
a  ftrong  and  dexterous  handr    A  circumftance  in  itfelf  trifling 
contributed   to  this  event ;  and  the  friends  of  mankind  muft 
acknowledge^  that  fo/  once  at  leaft,  public  happinefs  has  been 
promoted  by  public  fuperftition»    On  the  3d  of  November 
1709,   Henry   Sac'.cverell,   a  Tory   parfon,  preached  at   St.. 
Paul's  a  fermon,  in  which  he  enforced,  with  much  virulence* 
the  nonfcnfe  about  paflivc  obedience  and  non-refiilance.     la" 
this  performance,  the  Earl  of  Godolphin,  Lord  High  Treafurer 
of  England,  and  one  of  the  chief  leaders  of  the  Whigs,  wa» 
perfonally  attacked,  and  the  whole  party  were  eager  to  punilh 
the  man  who  hnd  thus  contefted  their  darling  doftrines.     They 
brouglit  him  to  a  trial  before  the  Houfe  of  Peers ;  and  this  mea-. 
fare  gave  the  Tories  an  opportunity  for  aflerting  that  the  ChurcH. 
ivas  in  danger.     The  great  body  of  the  people  broke  into  a  ' 
tranfport  of  rage.     "  The  current,  which  had  been  long  chang- 
*'  ing,  ran  d-^wn  with  a  force,  that  levelled  every  thing  before-, ' 
it*."     Duruig  the  trial,  the  pews  of  fiv  diflenting  meeting;-",  - 
houfes  were  burnt  in  the  ilreets.     The  outrages  of  the  rabble' 
were  direfted  by  perfons  of  higher  rank,  who  attended  at  their 
lieels  in  hackney  coaches ;  the  wrich  word  was — The  Church 
CTjd  Sache'vcreli.      Thofe  who  joined  not  in   the  fliout  were 
infultcd   and  knocked  down  ;  and  Burnet  tells  us,  that  at  hi* 
door  one  man  got  his  flcuU  clefi  with  a  fia.de,  for  his  refufalf. 
The  fcrnion  was  ordered  to  be  burnt  by  the  hangman,  but  the 
public  fiame  was  kept  up  with  much  addrefs  by  the  lories* 
Saclieverell  made  a  journey  into  Wales,  and  was  every  where 
received  with  raptures  of  admiration.     The    Queen,  by  de- 
grees, embraced  this  opportunity  -to  free  herfelf  from  the  ty- 
ranny of  an  infoknt  fadion.     On  the  8th  of  Auguft  17 10,  Goi- 


i> 


(.» 


dolphin  was  difmifled.     A  new  parliament  was  fummoned  to 
meet  on  the  25th  of  November  thereafter.     The  frenzy  of  the 


H 
h 


y\ 


MacpKerfon;  vol,  ii.  chap,  S... 


\"T  ,/r }-r!:'ry:f' 


vxoh 


I 


[    5>     J     " 

tno^  was  fupported  by  the  fubftantial  logic  of  the  Treafur)-;  and 
a  majority  was  'cturned  of  Tor  members.  Harley,  the  new 
miniiler,  aad  his  affociates,  had  too  much  fenfe  to  dilcovcr 

'  abruptly  their  defigns  to  the  people.  The  fum  of  fourteen  mil- 
lions f/c  hundred  and  feventy-three  thoufand,  three  hundred 
and  nineteen  pounds,  nineteen  fhillings  and  eight  pence  haif- 

■  penny,  was  voted  to  difcharge  the  arrears  in  the  navy  and  otaer 
offices,  and  the  fervices  of  the  current  year.  At  this  critical 
moment,  a  fecond  ftroke  of  fortune  advanced  the  pacific  vi(  vvs 

v  of  the  Tories.  On  the  ift  of  May  1705,  the  Emperor  Leopold 
•  had  died ;  and  on  the  6th  of  April  17 11,  his  eldeft  fon  and  fuc- 
ceffor,  Jofepli,  died  alfo ;  and  without  regarding  his  own  two 
daughters,  left  his  brother  Charles,  our  intended  King  of  Spaing 
his  univerfal  heir,  "  His  death  fuddenly  changed  the  nuhole 
*^  ftate  of  affam.  The  war  undertaken  by  the  grand  alliance 
«<  for  preferving  the  balance  of  Europe,  was  now  likely  to  ic~ 
*^Ji"ojitfore'ver;  and  men  who  judged  of  the  future  by  the 
'•pad,  began  to  dread  the  irreljlUble  power  of  the  Emperor 

•  *«  Charles  the  Fifth,  in  the  perfonof  a  prince  of  his  family*.'* 
'  iitViCCt  even  upon  our  onvi.  mad  principles^  it  bocame  jull  as  ne- 

peflfary  to  oppofe  the  fucceflionof  our  candidate  Charles,  as  that 
of  the  Duke  of  Anjou.     Yet  with  the  moft  aftonjfhing  impu- 

•  4ence,  the  Whigs  and  our  Allies,  Charles  and  the  Dutch,  were 
anxious  to  continue  the  war.    The  German  princes,  and  among 

»  others,  the  Eleftof  of  Hanover +,  expreffed  their  higheft  difap- 
probation  of  the  projected  peace.  The  arguments  of  George, 
if  fuch  they  may  be  called,  are  too  frivolous  for  confutation 
or  infertion  here,  Portugal  and  Savoy  feconded  the  German 
chorus.  *'  The  emolunients  derived  from  war  were  greater 
**  than  their  expectations  from  peace, — The  monpy  of  the  ma- 
**  ritime  powers,  and  chiefly  that  of  England,  more  than  the 
•*  territories  of  the  Hoyfe  of  ^ourbon,  was  the  grand  objeft  of 
<*  thofe  petty  tyrants^  w\iofed  on  the  blood  of  fuhjeili  <whom  they 


*  'Macpherfon,  vol.  :.  chap.  8. 

+  In  a  Memorial  printed  by  his  envoy,  and  a  letter  from  him- 
,  fcjf  to  Harley,  dated  November  7,  17 1 1, 

--'"  Q  %  ■:--^;  ■  ■-:-,■.'.  «  let 


i 


[    52    ] 


«*  let  outforjlatighter  *,"  Compared  with  merchants  of  this  At-' 
fcrlption,  an  ordinary  offender  is  a  paragon  of  innocence.  When 
a  nation  fends  for  fovercigns  from  fuch  a  fchool,  there  appears 
but  a  melancholy  prefage  of  the  profped  before  it. 

The  campaign  of  171  ii  clapfed  without  effort  on  either 
fulc.  The  furrender  of  Bouchain  on  the  1 3th  of  September, 
clofed  the  military  exploits  of  the  Duke  of  Marlborough.  The 
new  rainifter  of  England  had  been  engaged  in  attempting  to  re- 
concile the  demands  of  the  contending  powers.  But  the  States 
of  Holland  were  fo  much  exafpcrated  by  the  conduA  of  Queen 
Anncj  that  they  were  at  no  pains  in  concealing  their  defign  to 
treat  her  as  they  had  treated  her  father.  They  propofed  «  to 
*«  fit  out  a  fleet  to  aflift  the  Eleftor  of  Hanover  to  ftrike  the 
<'  fceptre  from  her  hand+,"  On  the  7th  of  December,  parlia- 
ment met,  Harley  had  fecured  a  Tory  majority  in  the  Houfe 
of  Commons ;  but  his  party  was  fomewhat  inferior  in  the  Houfe 
of  Peers,  Affairs  had  now  come  to  a  crifis.  The  leaders  of 
the  Whigs  were  fufpedled  of  intfnding  an  immediate  appeal  to 
arms.  It  became  therefore  neceffary  to  difmifs  the  Duke  of 
Marlborough  from  his  military  command  j  and  on  the  laft  day 
of  December,  Harley  produced  what  is  now  called  a  batch  of 
peers.  Twelve  gentlemen  devoted  to  the  court  were  created 
members  of  the  Upper  Houfe.  Anne  had  the  very  fame  right 
to  have  created  twelve  thoufand.  The  conftitutioa  of  Britain^ 
like  the  fword  of  Dionyfiusi  hangs  by  a  fingle  hair. 

On  the  1 7th  of  January  1712,  Mr,  Walpole  was  committed 
to  the  Tower.  He  had  received  five  hundred  guineas,  and  4 
pote  for  five  hundred  more,  for  two  contradls  when  fecretary  at 
war,  for  fupplying  the  forces  in  Scotland  with  forage.  «  A 
*•  member,"  fays  Burnet,  ♦*  who  was  a  Whig,  was  expelled 
f  <  the  Houfe ;  and  a  profecution  was  ordered  aga^nil  him : — h\x\ 
«*  tht  abufe  goes  on  JUlU  as  avonvedly  as  ever"  The  Duke  of 
Marlborough's  cont'"ft  underwent  a  fevcre  cenfure,  and  Car^ 


*  Macpherfon,  vol.  ii.  chap,  8,  Seventeen  thoufand  of  thefc 
•miferable  victims  were  at  one  time  furnilhed  by  the  Court  of 
Hanover.     Macpherfon  s  State  Paperst  vol.  ji.  p.  497. 

t  Macpherfon;  vol,  iif  cha|;,  St 

^oni^eU 


}, 


,T 


f    53    3 

donncif  lus  fecrctary,  wa&  expelled  by  the  Commons.  The 
campaign  of  1712  was  unfortunate  on  the  part  of  the  Allies. 
The  Briti(h  forces  under  the  command  of  the  Duke  of  Ormonsi 
remained  inaftive  ;  and  even  the  abfence  of  the  abilities  of  Marl- 
borough fecms  to  ha\e  been  feverely  felt.  The  peace  was  not 
finally  fettled  till  March  1713.  The  Whig  faftion,  to  their 
eternal  irfamy»  drained  every  nerve  to  prevent  it.  By  this 
peace,  beiides  the  iflands  of  Minorca  and  St.  Chriftopher's,  and 
the  fortrofs  of  Gibraltar,  for  ourfelves,  we  obtained  the  ifland 
of  Sicily  for  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  which  produced  the  Spanifli 
war  in  171 8,  a  partial  right  for  our  merchants  of  trading  to 
South  America,  wnich  began  the  Spanifh  war  of  1739,  and 
Nova  Scotia,  which  gave  rife  to  the  French  war  in  1756. 
This  war  was  more  deftruilive  than  that  of  1689,  as  it 
Jaded  for  eleven  campaigns,  Dr,  Swift  computes  that  each 
of  them  cod  us  fix  or  feven  millions  derling.  The  lofs  of 
Jives  and  of  (hipping  could  be  hardly,  if  at  all  inferior  to 
that  of  the  former  war,  as  our  battles  were  numerous,  and 
as  the  protedion  of  our  commerce  was  altogether  neglefted. 
In  a  word,  the  nation  fquandered  feventy  or  eighty  millionSf 
that  Marlborough  might  pilfer  one. 

To  Dr.  Swift  we  are  much  indebted  for  the  tc  rmination  of 
this  war.  His  pamphlet  on  The  Condud  of  the  Allies,  excited 
a  fort  of  political  earthquake,  and  more  tl.  all  his  admirable 
verfes  mud  endear  him  to  didant  poderity,  A  lew  paifages 
may  fcrve  as  a  fpecimen  of  the  red,  "  It  will  appt  u,"  fays 
he,  "  by  plain  matters  of  fadl,  that  no  nation  was  ever  fo  i  >ng, 
**  or  fo  fcandaloufly  abufed,  by  the  folly,  the  temerity,  the 
<(  corrQption,  and  the  ambition  of  its  domedic  enemies ;  or 
f<  treated  with  fo  much  infolence,  injudice,  and  ingratitude,  by 
|(  its  foreign  friends.— ^We  ire  dedroying  many  thoufand  lives* 
f  and  exhauding  our  fubdance,  not  for  our  own  interedi  whi^h 
f<  would  be  but  common  prudence;  not  for  a  thing  indifferenti 
«<  which  would  be  fuSicient  folly ;  but  perhaps  ta  our  own  de- 
ft driiftiOn,  which  is  perfeft  madncfs. — The  common  quedio^ 
*f  is,  if  we  mud  pqw  fu^ren4ci'  Spain,  what  have  we  been  fight* 
f*  ing  for  all  this  while  ?  The  anfwer  is  ready.  We  have  be^ii 
♦f  fighting  for  the  r«in  of  the  public  intered.  and  the  advanc?- 

it  ment 


r  54  ] 


«  mcnt  of  a  private.  We  have  been  fighting  to  raife  the 
«  wealth  and  grandeur  of  a  particular  family  ;"  (that  of  Marl- 
boiough,)  "  to  enrich  ufurcrs  and  ftockjobbers,  and  to  culti- 
«  vate  the  pernicious  defigns  of  a  fadion,  by  dcftroying  the 
«  landed  intereft. — Since  the  monied  men  are  (o  fond  of  war» 
•<  I  Ihould  be  glad  if  they  would  fumifli  out  one  campaign  at 
•*  their ovu'tt  charge.  It  is  not  above  fix  or  feven  millions ;  and 
«<  I  dare  engage  to  make  it  out,  that,  tohen  they  have  done  thist 
«  inftead  of  contributing  equal  to  the  landed  men,  they  will 
^*  have  their  full  principal  and  intereft  at  fix  per  cent,  remaining 
<*  of  all  the  money  they  ever  lent  to  the  government." 

Even  at  this  day,  we  are  deafened  about  the  glorious  viftories 
of  the  Duke  of  Marlborough,  and  though  by  the  death  of  the 
Emperor  Jofeph,  the  objeA  of  difpute  was  utterly  extinguiflied, 
&  Cfowd  of  authors  perfift  in  lamenting  that  our  commander 
was  checked  in  the  career  of  pillage  and  butchery,  Happy 
might  it  have  been  for  this  country,  had  Marlborough,  with 
all  his  forces,  perifhed  on  the  field  of  Blenheim  ;  fince  it  may 
be  fuppofed,  that  fuch  a  ftroke  would  at  once  have  blafted  our 
Crufades  upon  the  continent.  As  if  his  Grace  had  not  enjoyed 
fufficient  opportunities  of  plundering  the  treafury  of  the  nation, 
as  if  the  manor  of  Woodftock,  the  palace  of  Blenheim  *,  and  an 
hundred  thoufand  pounds  a  year  +,  had  not  been  adequate  to 
the  ferviees  of  himfelf  and  his  Duch'fs,  we  are  faddled  with 
an  annual  payment  of  five  thoufand  pounds  to  his  family  for 
ever.  When  a  conftitution,  deferving  that  name,  (hall  fucceed 
our  prefent  political  anarchy,  it  is  not  difficult  to  forefee  fome 
of  the  firft  objefts  of  reformation.  The  Earl  of  Chatham  en» 
joys  four  thoufand  pounds  a  year,  becauf<-  his  father  added  fe- 
venty  millions  to  the  national  debt.  The  Duke  of  Richmond 
raifes  from  the  city  of  London  an  annual  revenue,  faid  to  be 


(-   ■    I 


*  Dr.  Swift  eftimates  Woodftock  at  forty  thoufand  founds, 
and  adds,  that  Blenheim  Houfe  had  coft  two  hundred  thoufand 
pounds,  and  was  at  the  time  of  his  writing  unfnijhed^  Ther^ 
can  be  no  wonder,  that  we  muft  now  pay  nme-pence  per  pound 
of  importation  duty  for  Peruvian  bark,  and  three  gi  neas  fot 
leave  to  fhoot  a  partriage  worth  two-pencci. 
+  The  fum  has  been  ftated  higher^  but  fuch  computations  are 
always  in  part  random* 

twentjf 


C    55    ] 


ifi 


fsvcnty  thoufand  pounds,  becaufe  he  is  defcen'kd  from  the  fon 
of  a  criminal  *,  vyho  deferved  an  hundred  tines  over  to  have 
been  flogged  out  of  human  fociety. 

As  a  commentary  on  the  preceding  narrative,  we  may  con- 
Cult  a  quotation  from  Dr.  Johnfon's  pamphlet  on  Falkland's 
Iflands.  The  reflexions  which  it  contains  have  more  than  once 
extorted,  in  my  hearing,  the  admiration  of  the  late  Dr.  Adam 
Smith,  who  was  far  from  being  a  general  advocate  for  this  Au«  : 
thor.  .    .  ,.  '^ 

"  It  is  wondierful,  with  what  coolnefs  and  indifference  the 
«*  greater  part  of  mankind  fee  war  commenced.  Thofc  who 
«  hear  of  it  at  a  diftance,  or  read  of  it  in  books^  but  have  never 
«  prefented  its  evils  to  their  itiinds,  cohfider  it  as  little  more 
"  than  a  fplendid  game,  a  proclamation,  an  army>  a  battle,  and 
**  a  triumph.  Some  mdecd  mud  perifh  in  the  nK)ft  fuccefsful 
«  field,  but  they  die  upon  the  bed  of  honour,  njtg^n  their  livet^ 
«•  amidft  the  joys  of  conqueji^  andy  filled  njoith  EnglantPi  glory  tf mile  [^ 
*•  in  death,  ..^^  • 

«  The  life  of  a  modem  foldier  is  ill  repnefented  by  heroic -^ 

«  fi^lion.     War  has  means  of  deftruftion  more  formidable  than  ^'' 

it 

«  the  cannon  and  the  fword.    Of  the  thoufands  and  ten  thou-  \^ 
•<  fands  who  perifhed  in  our  late  contefls  with  France  and  Spainy.;! 
**  a  very  fmall  part  ev*r  felt  the  flroke  of  an  enemy  ;  the  reft 
<(  languifhed  in  tents  and  (hips,  amidft  damps  and  putrefafUon  j^' 
*<  pale,  torpid,  fpiritlefs,  and  helplefs;  gafping  and  groaning^  •, 
«  unpitied  among  n)en,  made  obdurate  by  a  long  continuance  ' 
•*  of  hopelefs  mifery ;  and  were  at  laft  whelmed  in  pits,  or 
•*  heaved  into  the  ocean,  without  notice,  and  without  remem-^.j 
<(  brance.     By  incommodious  encampments,  and  unwholefomd 
«  flations,  where  courage  is  ufelefs,  and  enterprife  impraftica-*' * 
•<  ble,  fleets  are  iilently  difpeopled+,  and  armies  fluggilhl^/ 
"  melted  away.  ;-)« 


♦Charles  II, 


^'c. 


\  The  nianning  of  a  fleet  has  often  produced  Almoft  as  much' 
mifchief  as  its  depopulation.  On  this  fubjeft  there  is  here  fubjoin- .  \ 
cd  a  Ihort  but  {hocking  ^oryt  which  happened  about  the  time 

t  .  - .  •■.,'■•''-'''4..  — '  '  ■■-'■'     '  wheti  "" 


r  56  ] 

♦«  Thus  is  a  pebple  gradually  fckliauftcd,  for  ttie  moft:  pari  ' 
**  with  little  efFeft*    The  wars  of  civilized  nations  make  very 

flow 

when  Dr.  Johnfon's  pamphlet  was  firft  printedi  and  which  can 
harbly  be  regarded  as  a  digreifion)  fince  it  refleds  additional  hot* 
lor  on  the  war  fyftem. 

A  work'man,  in  London,  was  apprehended  by  a  prefs  gang* 
His  wife  and  child  wei'e  turned  to  the  door  by  their  fandlord. 
Within  a  few  days  after  Ihe  was  delivered  of  a  fecond  child  in  ' 
a  garret.    On  her  recovery,  (he  was  driven  to  the  fti^eets 
as  a.  con[imon  beggar.     She  went  into  a  (hop,  and  attempted  to 
cafrry  offa  fmafi  piece  of  linc^n.    She  was  feized,  tried,  and 
condemned  to  be  hanged.    In  her  defence  ihe  faid,  that  (he  ' 
had  lived  creditably  a^id  happy,  till  a  ptefs  gang  robbed  her  of  > 
her  hufljand,  an.^.  In  him,  of  all  means  to  fupport  herfclf  and^^f., 
fainily  ;  and  that  in  att!empiing  to  clothe  her  new  born  ihl^nt, 
fhe  perhaps  did  wroftg,  aS  fne  did  not,  at  that  tinie,  know  what" 
ihe  did.    The  parilh  officers,  and  other  witneifes,  bore  tefti-' 
mony  to  thC' truth  of  her  averment,  but  all  to  no  purppfe.    flie 
was  ordered  for  Tyburn.     The  hangman  dragged  her  funking  iw  , 
font  from  her  breajfj  <when  he  Jirained   the  cord  about' htr  neck* 
On  the  1 3th  May  i777>  Sir  WilRiiA  Meredith  mcntioried' this 
aflaffination  in  the  Houfe  of  Commons.     "  Neveri"  faid  hi, 
**  was  there  a  fouler  murder  committed  againfl  the  law,  th^n  that ., 
<*  of  this  woriiain  by  the  law."— Such  were  the  fruits ofwhat 
^x\^\^iRCtiCvX\  their  ineflimable  priviUge  of  atrial  by  tniy. 

It  wo^Jd  not  be  difficult  tq  fill  ^  large  volume  with  decifions 
<)fthis  (lamp,  though  there  is  not  perhaps  any  fmglecafe,  which 
is  in  all  its'  ci^cumrtarices  fo' aWdlutely  Infernal.     The  reider 
may  compak-e  the  guiltt  as  it  was  termed,  bf  Marjr  Jorieff,  With  " 
the  progrefs  of  thofe  noble  patriots ^  whofe  hiftory  is  recbtded  ift  '* 
the  next  chapter,  and  who  axe  at  this  <iay  ;held,  up  a?  ^thc  fa-  ' 
viours  of 'Britain,  ana  then  fay  which  of  the  two  parties  befi  d^p  -j 
ferved  a' halter.  ■  ■■  -.  ..v,^--.-o  ...    .  ..^..-  ......^ 

General  Gunning,  a  man  who  is  not  worth  a  iliiilihg,  wii  " 
lately  fined  in  five  thouf^nd  poulids  for  fed«cing,>a  dqxy  whb  * 
was  as  forward  as  himfelf ;  and  Mr.  Tattgrfal,  the  editor  pf .. 
a  London  riew'ipapef  has'juft  now  been  fined  in  four  thoiifand 
pounds  for  a  paragraph  which   afTerted,   that  alady  had'  i^  ' 
amouf  with  her  footman.     It  was  proved  that  Mr.  Tatterfal 
was  at  a  .^nt  diflance-from  tondoir,  when  this "ftoiyivas~prinT- 
ed  ;  and  confequently,  that  had  it  been  even  a  forgery "orith% 
Bank  ^  of  j^nglandj  the .  law  could  not  ^ay p  touched  a  hidr-  of,  hif 
headt'  /^rftcan  be  ap  dd^bt  that  thp  liuJy  wiB  accept  the.laffc  ,, 
fartliing  afllgried  py  this  verdift,  and  fuch  an  accep^an^e  can    , 
leave  ho  Unking  impfcffion  of  female  gerieroTity,    Another 

fplendid' 


[    57    i 


t  part 

;  very 

flow 


:h  can 

gang« 
Sord. 
lild  in ' 
dreets 
ted  to 
I)  and 
at  fhe  * 
her, of  ' 
ndji^r.. 
infant, 
r  whit" 
:  teftl-' 
(.    Ihe  . 
ing  ia-  , 
•r  neci* 
ed'tWs 
aid  ht,  •  • 
m  that ., 

wliat 

it 

cifions  ' 
which  .> 
reider  , 

With  " 

ded  iti  '* 
he  fa- 
eft  de^ 


t» 


y  wh6  '* 
tor  p£  *> 
)u{and 
ad^  ^  " 
tterfal 
^rintir- ' 
)ri  ih% 
ofthiy 

te  can,  . 

lotKec 

Undid' 


"  flow  changes  in  the  fyftem  of  empire.  The  public  perceives 
"  fcarccly  any  alteration  but  an  increafe  of  debt ;  and  the  few 
«  individuals  who  are  benefited,  are  not  fuppofed  to  have  the 
«  cleareft  right  to  their  advantages.  If  he  who  (hared  the 
«  danger  enjoyed  the  profit,  and  after  bleeding  in  the  battle 
'*  grew  rich  by  the  viftory,  he  might  (hew  his  gains  without i 
"  envy.  But  at  the  conclufion  of  a  ten  year's  war,  how  are  we 
**  recompenfed  for  the  death  of  multitudes,  and  the  expence  of 
«  millions,  but  by  contemplatmg  the  fudden  glories  of  pay- 
**  mailers  and  agents,  contradlors  and  commiflaries,  whofc  equi. 
«  pages  Ihine  like  meteors,  and  whofe  palaces  rife  like  exhala- 
«  tions. 

"  The  are  the  men  who,  without  virtue,  labour,  or  hazard, 
«  are  growing  rich  as  their  country  is  impoveriflied  j  they  re- 
«  joice  when  obftinacy  or  ambition  adds  another  year  to 
"  flaughter  and  devaftation;  and  laugh  from  their  delks  at 
"  bravery  and  fcience,  while  they  are  adding  figure  to  figure, 
**  and  cipher  to  cipher,  hoping  for  a  new  contrail  from  a  new 
**  armament,  and  computing  the  profits  of  a  ii'^ge  or  a  tern* 
"  pcft," 


fplendid  fpecimen  of  an  Englifli  jury  fhall  conclude  this  long 
note. 

Some  years  ago,  Mr.  Cooper,  of  London,  was  accufed  of 
being  the  printer  and  publifher  of  a  performance  deemed  a 
libel.  Upon  ftrifl  inquiry,  it  was  found,  that  it  had  been 
printed  at  nis  ofiice  ;  but  it  was  proved,  that  at  the  time  when 
this  was  done,  he  wus  in  fo  dangerous  a  ftate  of  health,  as  to  be 
given  up  by  the  phyfician  who  attended  him,  and  that  for  fe- 
veral  months  before  the  publication,  as  well  as  at  that  period,  he 
had  been  entirely  difabled  by  ficknefs  from  either  attending  his 
ofHce,  or  knowing  what  was  doing  in  it.  Notwithftanding 
thefe  circumftances,  a  Middlefex  jury  found  him  guilty ;  and,  as 
foon  as  he  had  recovered  from  his  ficknefs,  he  was  placed  on  the 
pillory,  and,  no  doubt,  would  have  been  pelted  by  minillerial 
hirlings,  had  not  a  number  of  refpeilable  gentlemen  prevented 
it  by  their  perfonal  attendance. — So  much  fcr  the  liberty  of  the 
prcfs,  when  proteftcd  by  a  Middlefex  jury. 


H 


CHAP. 


t    68    ] 


CHAP.    VII. 


I 


I 
I  III 


Where  I  have  treated  high  life  with  freedom,  I  hope  T  fi^all  not 
be  iindcrllood  to  propagate  the  doftrine  of  levellers. — I  have 
no  fuch  intention. — I  mean  to  give  a  juft  pi(fture  of  human 
life*  according  to  my  own  knowledge  of  it,  and  according  to 
niv  fenfe  of  truth,  without  ceremony  or  difguife. — I  do  not 
wiili,  ill  any  degree,  to  diminilh  the  refpeil  which  is  juftly 
due  to  perfons  and  families  of  diftinftion. 

Letter  to  the  People  of  Laurencekirk, 

nr^HERE  is  not  in  hiffory  a  more  fignal  example  of  ingrati- 
-■-  tude,  than  the  conduft  of  the  Emperor,  the  Dutch,  and 
Marlborough,  to  the  Queen  of  England.  She  had  fought  for 
ten  years  the  battles  of  her  Allies.  She  had  advanced  her  ge- 
neral to  be  the  firft  fubjeft  in  Europe.  When  (he  refufed  to 
complete  the  ruin  of  her  country  for  the  caprice  of  the  former, 
when  the  infolence  of  the  latter  compelled  her  to  difmifs  him, 
loaded  with  the  plunder  of  nations,  from  her  prefence,  thefe 
worthy  afibciates  confpired  for  the  deftruftion  of  their  bene- 
faftrefs.  It  is  not  certain  that  William  himfelf  had  ever  pro- 
ceeded into  fuch  a  climax  of  bafenefs.  Though  his  partition 
treaties  were  abfurd  in  a  Britifli  fovereign,  we  may  forgive,  in 
his  hoftilities  with  Lewis,  the  refentment  of  a  Dutchman.  When 
we  perufe  the  plan  of  Eugene  for  fetting  fire  to  the  (treets  of 
London,  and  the  palace  of  St.  James's  *,  even  his  tranfcendant 
behaviour  at  the  Revolution  almoft  fades  before  it. 

By  the  prudence  and  firmnefs  of  Harlcy,  the  plots  of  Eugene 
Were  difcovered  and  difappointed  ;  and  on  the  17th  of  March 
1712,  he  was  obliged  to  embark  with  fome  precipitation  for 
the  Continent.  The  neutrality  of  the  Englifli  forces  in  the 
next  campaign,  with  the  final  termination  of  the  war,  has  al- 
ready been  mentioned.  It  does  not  appear  that  the  EleAor  of 
Hanover  was  engaged  in  the  fcheme  of  dethroning  Anne.     Hi* 


I  f 


f  Macpherfon,  voU  2>  chap,  9, 


beg&arlx 


[    59    ] 

beggarly  condition  may  have  contributed  to  tlic  moderation  of 
his  feniimcnts.     In  171 3,  he  folicited  from  the  Englirti  Crown 
a  pcnfion  for  his  mother  the  Princcfs;  Sophia.     «  In  the  prefent 
*<  fituation  of  his  aflfairsj  a  frcfh  fiipply  of  revenue  was  much 
**  wanted.     His  agents  every  where  complained  of  their  too 
"  fcanty  allowance.     The  Whigs,  with  all  their  patriotifm, 
•*  <voere foliciting  for  pevjiofti.    Some  Lordst  who  were  zealous 
"  for  the  Proteftant  fucccflion,  were,  it  fecms,  '■'   j)oor  tofollouu 
**  their  canfciences,     They  had  fold  their  votes  to   the  Mi»ijirj\ 
«»  But — they  'would  take  fmaller  fumi  from    His    electoral 
**  HIGHNESS.    The  Earl  of  Sunderland,  in  his  attachment  to 
«'  the  family  of  Brunfwick,  had  advanced  three  hundred  pounds 
<f  to  one  of  thcfe  poor  cotfcientious  Lords.     The  Earl  widied  td 
"  fee  thisfum  repaid.    Though  the  Eleftor  might  be  willing  to 
«  gratify  fuch  faithful  friends,  he  had  reafon  to  cxped>  that 
«  they  luonld  help  to  ferve  themfelves.     They  were,  therefore 
"  defired  to  promote,  with  all  their  influence,  the  jienfion  dc- 
*<  manded  for  the  Princefs.     His  Highnefs  was  no  ftranger, 
*<  upon  the  prefent  occafion,  either  to  the  abilities  or  poverty  of 
**  the  Duke  of  Argylc.     The  whole  world  knew  his  love  of 
«  money.     He  defired  that  nobleman,  and  his  brother  i\\h  Earl' 
«  of  Hay,  to  promote  the  allowance  to  the  Eleftrefs,  as  they- 
**  might  expeSl  good  penftons  to  them  felves  from  that  fund*,"  This 
penfion  was  never  obtained ;  and  the  Eleftrefs  herfelf  died  about 
fixteen  months  after,  on  the  28th  of  May  17 14.     "  The  Eleftor 
«*  himfelf  feems  to  have  become  indifferent  concerning  the  fuc- 
«*  ceflion  of  his  family  to  the  throne.     Teazed  by  the  unmean- 
"  ing  profeflions  of  the  Tories,  a-^d  haraffed  by  the  demands  of 
«<  the  Whigs,  he  dropped  all  correfpondence  with  both  parties. 
"  He  fufFered  his  fervants  to  continue  their  intrigues  in  Lon- 
«<  don.    He  liftened  to  theif  intelligence.    But  to  the  requifi- 
«*  tions  of  his  Whiggifh  friends  for  money,  he  turned  a  deaf 
«  ear.     He  was  however  perfuaded  at  length,  to  order  fix  hur- 
**  died  pounds  to  the  Lord  Fitzwalter,  to  en^ible  that  needy 


♦  Macpherfon,  •  jl,  ii,  chap.  9*  and  Hanover  Papers,  Ja- 
Duar/27,  1 71 3. 

Ha  *sER 


[    6o    ] 


• 


«  PEER  to  pay  a  debt  of  three  hundred  pounds  to  Sunderland. 

"  He  nlloiui'd  forty  poundt  to  the  author  of  a  titivf paper,  for  con- 

*<  "viying  to  the  puhlic,  paragraphs  ft/i'curah/e  /o  the  proten- 

««    r  A  N  T  8  u  c  c  E 88 1 o  N,     He  addcd  ten  pounds  to  that  fimmenff) 

«<  Ann,    after  'various   reprrfentatious  from  his   council  and  fer- 

«<  'vanti*.** — "  The  excluded  party  in  Britain  harafled,  at  the 

«*  fame  time»  the  Elector,  with  propofals  for  his  invading  the 

*«  kingdom  ivith  a  body  of  troops.     They  fuggeftedt  that  fliould 

"  the  Dutch  refufc  a  fquadron  of  men  of  war,  fome  (hips  of 

«  force  might  be  obtained  from  Denmark.    But  the  Eledor 

«  rejc^ed  the  fcheme,  as  utterly  improper  and  impradlicable  +." 

On  the  9th  of  April  1 7 1  Ji  the  Q^een  opened  a  feflion  of 

parliament.    The  ftream  of  popularity  had  now  turned  againft 

the  Whigs.      "  In  this  diftrefsful   fituationi  they  implored 

"  Krcyenbeg  to  lay  their  humble  felicitations  at  the  feet  of  the 

«<  Eledor.    They  entreated  his  Highnefs,  for  the  fake  of  Hea- 

<«  ven,  to  fend  over  the  Eledioral  Prince.    Without  the^  prc- 

"  fence  of  one  of  the  family,  they  folemnly  averred,  that  the 

«*  fucceflion  muft  inevitably  be  deteated  %»'*    All  this  canting  ■'■  "■  ^ 

had  very  little  foundation  in  faA.    The  bulk  of  the  nation     ^ 

were  determined  in  favour  of  the  Proteftant  fucceflion.     But 

thefe  fycophants  wiihed  to  make  themfelves  of  importance  with 

George  the  Firft.    The  followii\g  palfage  will  fet  the  nature 

and  motives  of  their  condu£l  in  a  proper  light. 

-J  "  The  Whigs  had,  in  the  beginning  of  the  year  (1713)  ha- 

**  raffed  the  Eledor  with  demands  oi  pen/ions  for  poor  lords. 

«  They  had  perpetually  teazed  his  Highnefs  for  money  to  po. 

«  litical  writers,  and  for  fpies  planted  round  the  Pretender. 

«  Though  their  folicitations  on  thefe  fubjefls  had  been  at-    . 

«  tended  with  little  fuccefs»  they  continued  to  make  applica- 

«  tions  of  the  fame  difagreeable  kind.    When  the  feflion  was 

*  Macpherfon,  vol,  ii.  chap,  9. 

+  Ibid.  This  was  about  the  z  i  ft  of  March  1 7 1  ^»  a  full  year 
after  the  departure  of  Prince  Eugene.  Their  objefts  were  to 
prevent  the  peace,  which  was  figned  about  this  time,  to  recover 
their  places,  and  ruin  the  Miniflry. 

^  MacpherfoHj  vol.  ii.  chap.  io« 

«  drawins: 


I   6i    ] 

**  drawing  to  a  concluflorii  and  a  dilToIution  was  forereeni  they 
<'  manded  oftf  hundred  thou/and  poundt  from  the  Elc^of}  /• 
«*  corrupt  boroughst  Jo  influence  eleflionSi  and  to  return  men  of  can- 
«  ftitutional  and  Wh  I G G 1 8 H  principlet  to  the  cnfuing  parliament. 
«  The  magnitude  of  the  fum  left  no  room  for  hefitation  in  re-. 
<•  jeding  their  requeft.  One  repulfe,  howeveri  was  not  fuffici. 
«  ent  either  to  intimidate  or  difcourage  a  party  fo  eager  in  the 
«  purfi.it  of  their  defigns.  They  diminifhed  their  demand  to 
"  ff'y  th0u/and  pounds.  The  Elcftor  plainly  told  them,  that 
**  he  could  not  fpare  the  money.  That  he  had  done  the  greateft* 
**  fervice  confident  with  his  own  particular  fttuationi  and  the 
**  ftate  of  Europe  in  general,  to  the  well  affcAcd  irt  Britain. 
«  That  he  had  engaged  the  Emperor  and  Empire  to  continue  the 
•*  nvar  againji  France,  That  he  had  employed  yJ-Tfa/^^-w  thou- 
«  /and  of  his  troops  againft  that  kingdom.  That  this  circuin- 
"  ftance  had  deprived  the  French  King  of  the  power  offending 
«  an  army  into  Britain  with  the  Pretender.  That  could  he 
<*  even  advance  the  money,  which  was  Lr  from  being  the  cafe, 
«  the  fee  ret  could  never  be  kept ;  and  that  a  difcovery  might 
«  be  dangerous,  from  the  offence  that  the  meafure  was  likely 
«  to  give  to  the  Britifti  nations*." 

Within  a  few  pages,  we  meet  with  iirelh  applications  of  the 
fame  kind.  «  The  Whigs  again  Jirged  the  Elcftor  to  invade 
«  the  kingdom*  They  promifed  to  furnifh  him  with  fums,  upon 
«  his  credit,  to  fave  their  countryt  and  to  execute  his  own  de- 
<*  figns;  but  with  an  inconfiftence  ^pugnant  to  thefe  large 
«*  promifes,  they  reverted  to  their  former  demands  of  money 
"  from  his  Highnefs.  They  alked  penfions/or  poor  canfcientiout 
**  Lordi  nuho  ivere  in  want  of  Juhjifience,  They  demanded,  with 
«  the  mod  vehement  entreaties,  ttjao  thou/and  poundst  to  carry 
«*  the  eledlions  for  the  Common  Council  of  London,  They  repre- 
«  fented,  that,  with  that  fum,  they  could  chufe  their  own  crea<- 
«  tures,  and  terrify  the  Q^een  and  parliament  with  remon- 
"  ftrances  and  addreffes  throughout  the  winter  f ."  It  is  not 
furprifing  that  Mr.  Macpherfon  is  a  mofl  unpopular  hiftorian. 


'S 


Macpherfon,  yo}«  ii.  chap.  lo.  t  Ibid, 


Sut 


1 


[      C2      ] 

But  the  f.KTls  which  he  hnn  advanced  are  iinqucflionably  tnir. 
The  original  corrcfpomlencc  of  the  parties  is  ilill  extant  in  their 
own  hand  ivriting.  Let  us  proceed,  therefore,  with  a  few  far- 
ther extratfts  from  this  authentic  and  inllruAivc  author.  "  A 
"  propofal  made  by  the  Baron  de  BernftorfF,  Prcfidcnt  of  tlic 
*<  Ele(J^or's  Council,  was  received  by  Marlborough  and  Cado- 
"  gan  with  eagcrnefs  and  joy.  He  iMfinuated,  that  his  Elc«Jh)raI 
•*  Highnefs  might  be  induced  to  borrow  to  the  extent  of /atr;//^ 
«'  thouf and  pound i  from  his  friends  in  Britain.  This  fum  was 
•*  to  be  laid  out  on  the  foar  Lords^  and  the  Common  Council  of 
««  London^  during  tlic  three  years  the  parliament  was  to  fit. 
«'  The  firft  would  be  thus  enabled  to  vote  according  to  their 
«  principles ;  the  latter  might  ply  the  Govermnent,  and  hari'fs 
«•  the  Queen  and  her  minillers  with  remonftrances  in  favour  of 
«  civil  liberty  and  the  Protijlant  J'uccejjion*  Marlborough  and 
"  Cadogan  undertook  to  furnifli  the  money  on  the  obligation 
"  of  his  Eleftoral  Highnefs,  provided  the  intereft  of  fivt  per 
"  cent./hould  be  regularly  paid.  But  his  Highnefs  would  give 
*'  no  obligation  either  for  the  principal  or  intereft.  He  how- 
«*  ever  fignificd  to  his  agents,  that  his  friends  fliould  advance 
"  the  money,  as  they  might  be  certain  of  being  rcimburfed  as 
"  foon  as  his  Highnefs,  ^r  the  Eledrefs  his  mother,  (houl4 
"  come  to  the  throne*."  It  does  not  appear  that  his  friends 
"  chofe  to  advance  their  money  on  this  promife.  On  the  20th 
of  March  17 14,  George  made  anfwer  to  fome  frefh  demands 
«  of  money  for  poor  Lords,  Common  Councils,  bribery  of 
"  members,  and  private  penfions,  that  he  nuouldhear  no  more 
«  OF  THAT  AFFAIR.  That,  from  the  narrownefs  of  his  own 
**  income,  he  could  not  enter  upon  thefe  heads,  into  any  com- 
«  petition  with  his  antagonift,  the  Lord  Treafurer.  But  that, 
**  except  in  the  article  of^xpencesy  he  was  willing  to  fupport,  to 
"  the  utmoft,  their  party  +."  It  would  be  idle  to  fuppofc  that 
one  part  of  the  ifland  was  lefs  corrupted  than  another.  In  July 
1 71 3,  "  the  Duke  of  Argyle  told  Halifax,  that  nuith  tiventy 
"  thou/and  pounds,  he  would  anfwer  for  all  ilie  eleftions  in 


*  iVJacphcrfon,  vol,  ii,  chap,  iq. 


+  Ibid. 

«<  Scotland,'! 


[  h  ] 


'<  Scotland  •."  The  reafon  afllgncd  for  refufing  thefe  applica- 
tions, was  dear  and  fatisfaftory,  A  letter  from  the  Court  of 
Hanover  contiiiis  thefe  v  ords : — "  The  Eledor  cannot  give  the 
«  money  demanded  fur  the  clet^ions.  ficfidesi  he  Ihouid  fail 
«  infallibly,  as  the  Court  niou/J  a/wnjt  have  the  hea'viefi 
**  pur/e\." 

Nothing  is  more  furprifmg,  than  the  inaccuracy  which 
aboundii  in  many,  even  of  our  I)  "ft  hillorians.  There  cannot 
be  ftrongcr  proofs  imagined  of  the  corruption  of  both  Houfe* 
of  Parliament,  than  what  have  been  jull  now  produced.  Yet| 
with  this  blaze  of  evidence  before  his  eyes,  the  writer  of  the 
Memoirs  of  Britajn  has  advanced  a  very  ftrangc  aflTcrtion. — 
When  fpeaking  of  Mr.  Duncombc's  acquittal  in  the  Houfc  of 
Peers,  in  1695,  he  adds,  "  For  the  honour  of  the  Houfe  of 
<*  Lords,  this  is  the  only  ittjiavce  in  EiigUjh  hiftoryt  in  which 
•'  the  diftribution  of  private  money  was  fufpe^cdto  have  had 
♦*  influence  with  a  number  of  Peers  J." 

After  fuch  a  fpccimen  of  the  honefty  of  the  Whigs  ^t  would 
be  unneceflary  to  enumerate  all  the  other  methods  which  the/ 
fell  upon  to  embarafs  their  unfortunate  Queen.  One  of  their 
fchemeswas,  to  bring  over  the  EleAor  Prince,  under  the  title 
of  the  Duke  of  Cambridge,  as  a  head  to  their  party.  But  un- 
luckily this  projeA  was  equally  difagrceable  to  the  Eleftor  of 
Hanover  and  to  the  Queen.  In  a  letter  to  George,  dated  30th 
May  1714,  "  I  am  determined,"  Cays  Anne,  "  to  oppofe  a 
«'  projeft  fo  contrary  to  my  royal  authority,  however  fatal  the 
<'  confequenccs  may  be§."  And  George  himfelf  abfolutely  rc- 
fufed  G\cty  propofal  of  this  kind.  **  His  refufal  was  fo  peremp- 
**  tory,  that  the  Whigs,  and  even  his  fervantsj  made  no  fcruple 
«  of  afcr^bing  his  conduA  to  «  jealoufy  of  his  oivn/ofi\\."  It 
has  bt  :n  faid,  a  thoufand  times  over,  that  George  the  Firft  en- 
tertained the  moil  violent  fufpicion  as  to  the  legitimacy  of  his 


-i-fl- 


•  Macpherfon's  State  Papers,  vol.  ii.  p.  498. 

+  Ibid.  p.  497. 

^  Memoirs  of  Britain,  vol.  ii.  part  3d,  Book  iv, 

I  State  Papers,  vol.  ii.  p.  62 k 

I  Macpherfon;^  vol.  ii.  chap.  10. 


Ton  I 


r  64  ] 


81  l! 

I'il  .. 


! 


fon ;  and  that  hii  jcaloufy  was  fatal  to  the  life  of  a  Swedilh  no- 
bleman. His  wife,  the  Princcfs  of  Zell,  was  at  this  ver)'  time 
in  confinement  for  her  amours ;  and  in  this  fituatiun  the  unhappy 
woman  died,  after  a  melancholy  captivity  of  thirty-fix  years. 

Another  modeft  contrivance  to  harafs  the  Queen,  deferves 
peculiar  notice.  On  the  8th  of  April  1714,  "it  was  propofed 
««  to  requeft  her  Majefty  to  iffue  a  proclamation,  fetting  a  price 
"  on  her  brother's  henit.  The  Tory  Lords  reprcfentcd,  that  the 
•'<  motion  was  as  inconfiftent  with  common  humanity,  as  it  was 
*<  repugnant  to  the  Chriftian  religion ;  that  to  fet  a  price  on 
*'  any  man's  head,  was  to  encourage  afTaffmation  by  public  au- 
*•  thority  ;  and  that  (hould  ever  the  cafe  come  before  them,  as 
"  peers  and  judges,  they  wouH  think  themfelves  bound,  in 
"  juftice,  honour,  and  confcience,  to  condemn  fuch  an  adion 
*«  as  murther.  The  Whigs  argued  upon  the.gmvr.i  cf  fxpedn 
''*ENcvV*    The  motion  was  rcjefted. 

The  Whigs  did  not  always  confine  their  operations  to  bribery. 
We  may  comprehend  from  what  follows,  the  genuine  charafter 
of  feme  cf  their  principal  leaders.  In  1694,  William  planned 
an  expedition  againft  Breft.  The  particulars  were  betrayed  to 
James  the  Second,  in  a  letter  from  Marlborough,  where  he  com- 
plains that  Admiral  Ruffel  was  not  fufficiently  hearty  in  the 
caufe  of  the  exiled.  In  confequence  of  this  aft  of  treachery, 
the  Englifh  forces  w!;re  repulfed  on  their  landing  at  Breft.  Six 
hundred  were  (lain,  and  many  wounded ;  one  Dutch  frigate  was 
funk  after  lofing  almoft  her  whole  crew.  Another  example 
may  fervc  to  fhow  ^he  charafter  of  thefe  leaders  in  a  proper 
light.  In  1695.  Sir  John  Fenwick,  a  Major-General,  had  been 
engaged  with  I'enn,  the  founder  of  Philadelphia,  and  others, 
in  a  projeft  for  a  rebellion  in  England,  and  had,  on  its  dif^ 
covery,  fled.  Some  time  after  he  returned,  was  found  out,  and 
arretted.  To  fave  his  life,  he  tranfraitted  to  the  King  an  ac- 
count of  the  treafonable  correfpondence  of  Godolphin,  Marl- 
borough, Ruffel,  and  many  other  Whigs  of  diftinakn  with 
James.     His  accufation  «<  is  now  known  to  have  been  in  all 


Macpherfon,  vol.  ii,  chap.  10. 


points 


I 


63 


] 


^ 


«'  points  tfue;"  and]  as  there  was  only  one  evidence  a^ainll 
him>  «  he  could  not  be  conviAed  in  a  court  o/iinv,  which  rc- 
«  quire'  two."  iJut  the  perfons  whom  he  had  accufed,  **  be- 
"  lieved  that  they  could  not  be  fafc  a:  long  as  he  li-ved."  A 
bill  of  attainder  was  therefore  brought  in  againft  him,  and 
Ruffel  appeared  at  the  head  of  the  profccution.  The  fequei 
produced  a  crowd  of  proceedings  «  which  exceeded  the  injuf- 
*'  tice  of  the  worft  precedents  in  the  worft  times  of  Charles  the 
«  Second  and  his  fucceffor  j"  and  the  whole  were  vindicated  by 
Burnet)  in  a  long  fpeech.  The  bill  paffedboth  honfes  by  a  nar- 
row majority ;  and  on  the  a 8th  of  January  iS^St  Fenwick  was 
beheaded  on  Tower- hill,  "  n^ithout  evidence  or  laio."  Lady 
Fenwick  attempted  to  bribe  a  perfon  whofe  teftiraony  flic 
dreaded)  to  fly  the  kingdomi  The  accufers  prevailed  on  this 
wretch  to  place  people  behind  a  curtain  to  overhear  the  offer  ; 
•«  and  this  attempt  of  a  wife  to  fave  her  hufband'slife  from  dan- 
«  ger,  nuns  turned  into  an  evidence  of  his  guilt  *."  Thefe  are  the 
tvords  of  a  hifl:orian,  who  is  himfelf  a  profeffed  Whig,  who  has 
been  a  lawer,  and  is  now  a  Judge.  It  is  difficult  to  fay,  whe-: 
ther  the  conduft  of  the  parliament,  ,^'ho  pafTed  fuch  a  fentence^ 
or  of  his  Majefty  who  iigned  it>  was  moft  compktcly  inde- 
jeacible. 

On  the  ift  of  Aiiguft  1714,  Queen  Anne  died  ;  and  as  much 
Jias  be^n  faid  in  praife  of  her  virtues,  a  (hort  account  of  a  tranf^ 
aflion  condufled  by  her  Tory  parliament  ii  here  inferted,  which 
in  part  is  abridged  from  the  Anecdotes  of  the  Earl  of  Chatham. 

It  has  been  told  by  many  hiftorians,  that  for  four  years^ 
.Queen  Anne  gave  an  hundred  thoufand  pounds  per  annum  out 
.of  her  civil  lift,  to  fupport  the  war  againit  France  ;  and  henc« 
.they  deduce:  an  argument  of  the  oeconomy  and  patriotifm  of  that 
Princefsi— -But,  on  the  25th  of  June  1713)  her  Majefty  ac- 
.({uainted  the  Commons  that  the  had  contrafted  a  very  large 
debt  upon  the  revenues  of  the  civil  lift ;  and  (he  fgecified  that 
this  deficiency  amounted  in  Aoguft  1710,  to  four  hundred  thou- 
fand pouiids. — Mr  Smith,  one  of  the  tellers  in  the  Exchequer^ 


*  Memoirs  of  Britain,  vol.  ii.  part  3.  book  7. 


\*hg[ 


r 


fi  ,■ 


|rt 


:(  ' 


f    66    ] 

who  fcems  to  have  been  too  honcft  a  man  for  his  office,  aroftf 
and  Ir formed  the  Houfe,  that  the  eftimate  of  this  debt  was  to 
him  al'onifhing  j  as  at  the  time  pointed  out,  he  could  affirm, 
that  the  debt  amounted  to  little  more  than  an  hundred  thoufand 
pounds.  Other  members  undertook  to  prove,  that  the  funds 
afllgned  to  her  Majefty  for  feven  hundred  thoufand  pounds /^r 
cnnHTtii  had  produced  eight  hundred  thoufand  pounds,  fo  that  ia 
the  courfe  of  eleven  years,  her  Majefty  had  rcceivec^  eleven  hun- 
dred thoufand  pounds  of  an  overplusj  and  after  deducing  the 
pretended  gift  of  four  hundred  thoufand  pounds,  (he  had  ftill 
fet'en  hundred  thoufand  pounds  Jierlhig  of  the  public  money  in  her 
pocket.  Though  this  was  the  fame  virtuous  affembly  which 
had  expelled  Walpole  from  bribery,  thefe  obfcrvations  could  not 
obtain  attention ;  fmce  the  very  next  day  the  Houfe  voted  fiv«i 
hundred  and  ten' thousand  pounds  for  payment  of  this  debt. 
"  This,"  adds  the  hiftorian,  «  is  the  truth,  and  the  whole  truth 
*'  of  that  generous  exploit  of  the  daughter  of  James  the  Se- 
«  cond.  It  was  a  mean  trick,  by  which  the  nation  was  cheated 
"  of  four  hundred  thoufand  pounds*,"  He  Ihould  have  faid» 
five  hundred  and  ten  thoufand  pounds,  for  that  was  the  exadt 
fum  granted. 

It  is  entertaining  to  remark  the  ftylc  in  which  a  Gourtierf 
fometimes  talks  of  his  fovereign.  When  William,  in  a  fit  of 
defpondency,  had  once  threatened  to  refign  the  crown  of  Eng- 
land, "  Does  he  fo  ?"  faid  Sunderland,  "  there  is  Tom  of 
"  Pembroke,"  (meaning  Lord  Pembroke)  "  who  is  as  good  a 
"  block  of  wood  ai  a  king  can  be  cut  out  of.  We  will  fend  for' 
"  him,  and  make  him  our  KiNdf."  To  the  fame  purpofe  the 
Princefs  of  Wales,  in  1753,  exprefled  herfelf  as  to  George  the 
Second,  in  a  converfation  with  Mr.  Dodington.  ■"  She  faid» 
"  with  great  warmth,  that  when  they  talked  to  her  of  the 
"  King,  (he  loft  all  patience,  for  fhc  knew  //  ivas  nothing :  that 
"  in  thefe  great  points  (he  reckoned  the  King  no  more  than  oiee 
*f  of  the  trees  nue  nualked  bj,  or  fomething  more  inconfiderable 
"  which  (he  named,  but  that  it  was  their  pufillanimity  ivhic^ 


*  Anecdotes  of  the  Earl  of  Chadiam,  vol.  ii.  p.  ro. 
+  Memoirs  of  Great  Britain,  vol,  ii.  part  3.  booK  7. 


(I 


wou/j 


[    67    ] 

«  nuoulJ  make  an  end  of  them." — "  She  faid,  that  if  they  talked 
«*  of  the  King)  (he  Mas  out  of  patience  ;  it  was  as  if  they  Ihoqld 
«  tell  her,  that  her  little  Harry  below  would  not  do  what 
f*  was  proper  for  him ;  that  juft  fo  the  King  would  /putter  and 
«*  make  a  bujilet  but  when  they  told  him  that  it  muji  be  done 
**  from  the  neceflity  of  his  fervice,  he  mufl:  do  it,  as  little  ilarrv 
**  mujfi  when  flic  came  down  *,'* 


CHAP.    VIII. 


I  am  no  orator  as  Brutus  is, 
To  Itir  men's  blood ;  I  only  fpeak  right  on, 
/  telljou  thct  <v  hichjouj/our/elves  do  knonv. 
.■  Shakespeare, 

'  J  'HE  hiftory  of  England  has  been  continued  in  the  Lift 
-*•    chapter,  to  the  beginning  of  the  difaftrous  but  memorable 
reign  of  George  the  Firft,     We  fliall  clofe  this  part  of  the  work 
with  fome  general  obfervations  on  the  civil  lift. 

"  There  we  find  places  piled  on  places,  to  the  height  of  the 
«  tower  of  Babel.  There  we  find  a  mafter  of  the  houfehold, 
«  treafurer  of  the  houfehold,  comptroller  of  the  houfehold, 
"  cofferer  of  the  houfehold,  depoty-cofl^ercr  of  the  houfehold, 
»*  clerks  of  the  houfehold,  clerks  coniptrollers  of  the  houfehold, 
«  clerks  comptrollers  deputy-clerks  of  the  houfehold,  office 
"  keepers,  chamber-keepers,  neceffary-houfe-keepers,  purvey- 
«  ors  of  bread,  purveyors  of  wine,  purveyors  of  fifti,  purvey- 
'*  ors  of  butter  and  eggs,  pr^rveyors  of  confoftionary,  deli- 
«  verers  of  greens,  coffee-women,  fpicery-menj  fpicery  men's 
♦<  affiftant-clerks,  ewry-men,  ewry-men's  aififtai\t-clerks,  kitch* 
*f  en-clerks  -  comptrollers,  kitchen  -  clerk  -  comptroller's  firft 
''  clerks,  kitchen   clerk-comptroller's  junior  clerks,  yeomen 


*  Dodington's  Diary,  p,  205,  and  ^  13, 


<«  of 


[    68    ] 


' 


I 


It 


i     i 


1^ 


9 


: 


ii; 


f*  of  the  mouthi  under  yeomen  of  the  moutli,  groonwj  grooms 
*'  childrePi  paftry-yeomen,  harbingers,  harbingers  yeomen, 
'«  keepers  of  ice  houfes,  cart-takers,  cart-takers  grooms,  bell- 
«'  ringers,  code  rndrryer,  taole -deckers,  water  engine  tprners, 
"  ciftern  cleaness,  keeper  of  fire  buckets,  and  a  thoufand  or 
«<  two  more  of  the  fame  kinu,  which  if  I  were  to  fet  down,  I 
«  know  not  who  would  take  the  trouble  of  reading  them  over. 
«  Will  any  man  fay,  and  keep  his  countenance,  that  one  in  one 
"  hundred  of  thefe  hangers-on  is  of  any  real  ufe? — Cannot  our 
"  King  h^vc  4  poached  egg  for  his  fupper,  unlefs  he  keeps  a 
f<  purveyor  of  eggs,  and  his  clerks?  and  his  clerk's  deputy- 
*♦  clerks,  at  an  expence  of  jool.  i  year  ?  while  the  nation  is 
"  finking  in  a  bottomlefs  ocean  of  debt  ?  Again,  who  are  they, 
"  the  yeomen  of  the  mouth  ?  and  who  are  the  under-yeomen 
•*  of  the  mo\}th  ?  What  is  their  bufmefs  ?  W|iat  is  it 
"  to  yeoman  a  King's  mouth  ?  What  is  the  neccffity  for  a 
«  cQfFerer,  where  there  is  a  treafurcr  ?  And,  where  there  is 
"  a  cofferer,  what  occafion  for  a  deputy-cofferer  ?  Why  a 
*<  ncceffary-houfe  keeper  ?  cannot  a  King  have  a  water-clofct, 
*<  ant/  keep  the  key  of  it  in  his  onjon  pocket  ?  Ana  my  little  cock 
<f  and  cryer,  what  can  be  his  poft  ?  Does  he  come  under  th^ 
"  King's  chamber  window,  and  call  the  hour,  mimicking  the 
*f  crowing  of  the  cock  ?  This  might  be  of  ufe  before  clocks 
«f  and  watches,  efpecially  rape^tcrs,  were  invented  ;  but  feems 
*'  as  fuperfiuous  qow,  as  the  deliverer  of  greens,  the  coffee^ 
<'  women,  fpicery  men's  affiftaqt-clerks,  the  kitchen-comptrol- 
*'  ler's  fi:rft  clerks  and  junior  clerks,  the  groom's  child^^en,  the 
*f  harbinger's  yeomen,  ^c.  Does  the  maintaining  fuch  a  muL 
"  titude  of  idlers  fuit  the  prefent  l^ate  of  our  finances  ?  When 
"  will  frugality  be  neceffary^  if  not  now  ?  Queen  Anne  gave 
**  an  hundred  thoufand  pounds  a  ye^r  to  the  public  fervice  *, 
»^  We  pay  debts  on  the  civil  lift  of  fix  hundred  thoufand  pounds 
'*  in  one  article^  luithout  ojking  h<^nji}  there  comes  to  be  a  defi^ 
<f  ciency  f ." 


*  The  reader  is  already  acquainted  with  the  progrefs  and  ter- 
iniriation  of  this  art  of  royal  munificence. 
T  f  ol^tical  Difquifitioiisj  vol,  ii.  p.  128. 


t 


] 


The  following  converfations  on  the  fame  fubje^,  between 
the  late  Princefs  of  Wales  and  Mr.  Dodington,  cannot  fail  to 
excite  the  attention  and  furprlfe  of  every  reader.  «  She,"  the 
Princefs,  "  faid>  that  notwithftanding  what  I  had  mentioned  of 
(f  the  King's  kindnefs  to  the  children  and  civility  to  her,  thofy 
^  things  did  not  impofe  upon  her — that  there  were  other  things 
*f  which  ihe  could  not  get  over,  (he  wilhed  the  King  was  lefs 
«  civil,  and  that  he  put  lefs  of  their  money  into  bis  own  pocket : 
"  that  he  got  full  thirty  thoufand  pounds  per  annum j  by  the 
««  poor  Prince's  death. — If  he  would  but  have  given  them  the 
*f  Dutchy  of  Cornwall  to  have  paid  his  debts,  it  would  have 
w  been  fomething.  Sould  refentments  be  carried  beyond  the 
«  grave  ?  Should  the  innocent  fuffer  ?  Was  it  becoming  fo 
M  great  a  King  to  lea've  his  Jons  debts  unpaid  ?  and  fuch  incon-r 
«  fiderable  debts  ?  I  aflced  her,  what  (he  thought  they  might 
*f  amount  to  ?  She  anfwered,  ihe  had  endeavoured  to  know  as 
«<  near  as  a  perfon  could  properly  inquire,  who,  not  having  it 
«f  in  her  power,  could  not  pretend  to  pay  them,  She  thought^ 
*f  that  to  the  tradefmen  and  fervants  they  did  not  amount  to 
*«  ninety  thoufand  pounds  ;  that  there  was  fome  money  owing  to 
*f  the  Earl  of  Scarborough,  and  that  there  was,  abroad,  a  debt  of 
«f  about  feventy  thoufand  pounds.  That  this  hurt  her  exceed- 
f<  ingly,  though  (he  did  not  (hew  it.  I  faid  that  it  was  im-> 
*f  poiEble  to  new-raake  people ;  the  King  could  not,  now,  be, 
«  altered — ." 

«  We  talked  of  the  King'$  accumulation  of  treafure,  which 
f<  (he  reckoned  at  four  millions.  I  told  her,  that  what  was 
«  become  of  it,  how  employed,  where  and  what  wa$  left,  I  did 
**  not  pretend  to  guefs ;  but  that  I  computed  the  accumulation 
<f  to  be  from  twelve  to  fifteen  millions.  That  thefe  things, 
«  within  a  moderate  degree,  perhaps  lefs  than  a  fourth  part 
«  could  ht  i^xostdi  beyond  all  pq//ibility  of  a  denial ;  and,  when 
f  the  cafe  (hould  exifl,  would  be  publilhed  in  controver(ial 
«  pamphlets*.'* 


*  Dodington's  Memoirs,  p.  167  and  a90»    T^iefc  debts  of 
the  Prince  of  Wales  are  iUll  unpaidi 


r  70  ] 


1.1 


■ 


i 


In  1 7551  Mr.  Pitt  httd  a  conference  with  the  Duke  of  New^ 
caftie,  which  has  been  recorded  by  Mr.  Dodington.  A  fliort 
fpecimen  may  fcrve  to  (how  how  the  Britiih  nation  has  been 
bubbled  by  Government.  «  The  Duke  mumbUJ  iha  the  Saxon 
^«  and  Bavarian  fubfidies  were  offered  and  prrffedy  but  there 
<(  was  nothing  done  in  them  :  that  the  Heflian  was  pcrfe(ited» 
«<  hut  the  Ruffian  was  not  concluded. — Whether  the  Duke 
•<«  meant  unfigned}  or  unratified,  \/e  cannot  tell,  but  we  under- 
*<  (land  it  is  iigned.  When  his  Grace  dwelt  fo  much  upon  the 
«  King's  hoHOUTi  Mr.  Pitt  alked  him — ^what,  if  out  of  the  f  i  f- 
«  TEEN  MILI4ION8  nvhick  the  King  had  faniedt  he  Ihould  give 
<*  his  kinfman  of  Hefle  one  hundred  thoui^md  pounds,  and  the 
^  Czarina  one  hundred  and  fifty  thoufand  pounds  to  be  off 
«  from  thefe  bad  bargains,  and  not  fuflfer  the  fuggciUors,  fo 
«  dangerous  to  his  own  quiet  and  fafety  of  his  family,  to  l)S 
««  thrown  out,  which  would,  and  muft  be,  infilled  upon  in  a 
«  debate  of  this  nature  ?  Where  would  be  the  harm  of  it  ? 
"  The  Duke  had  nothing  to  fay,  but  defired  they  might  talk  it 
«  over  ag^in  with  the  Chancellor.  Mr.  Pitt  replied,  he  was  at 
<*  their  command,  though  nothing  could  alter  hit  opinion  *," 

The  reader  will  here  obferve,  that  thirty-feven  years  have 
elapfed  fmce  George  the  Second  had  faved  fifteek  mil- 
l^ioNt  from  the  civil  lifl.  It  has  been  faid  above,  that  a  fum 
at  five  per  cent,  of  compound  intereft  doubles  itfelf  in  fourteen 
years.  This  is  not  perfeftly  exaft,  but  as  my  former  calcu- 
lations did  not  require  ftri^  minutenefs,  the  conclufions  remain 
unlhaken.  Where  a  topick  fo  delicate  as  the  civil  lift  is  con* 
cemed«  the  utmoft  accuracy  may  be  expe^ed,  and  therefore  it' 
muft  hete  be  premiied,  that  in  fourteen  years,  an  hundred 
pounds  produce  about  a  fiftieth  part  lefs  than  a  fecond  hundred 
pounds*  that  is  to  fay,  nimty-fe'oen  pounds  nineteen  Jhillings  and 
eig/^  pence.  Of  m  decim^  fra^ions  *97995 16  parts  of  an  integer, 
Ko.w,  at  this  rate,  thefe  fifteen  milUona  would,  in  thirty-feven 
years,  have  multiplied  to  more  than  ninety-one  millions  and  an 
half.     It  is  indeed  true,  as  Mr.  Dodington,  foys,  that  we  can. 


5  Dodington's  Mcmoin,  p.  ^73, 


nor 


C  7'  3 

not  tell  nvhat  hat  become  ofity  or  ho<w  it  has  been  em^hjeJ,  biit 
We  know  that  no  part  of  it  has  been  applied  to  the  fervicc  of 
the  nation*  We  have  fiuce  paid  feveral  large  arrears  into  which 
the  civil  lid  had  fallen)  and  an  hundred  thoufand  pounds /^r 
annumt  have  been  added  to  the  royal  falary.  At  the  fame  time, 
the  nation  has  been  borrowing  money  to  pay  that  falary >  the 
expences  of  Gibraltar  and  Canada,  for  the  fupport  of  the  war- 
fyftemi  and  other  matters,  nominally  at  three  and  a  half,  or  four 
per  cent,  but  in  reality,  as  (hall  be  explained  hereafter,  at  fix  or 
3ight  per  cent*  Hence,  by  the  way,  the  calculations  as  to  Gib- 
raltar are  one  third  part  lower  in  point  of  compound  intereft 
than  theyjhould  have  been,  and  the  fifteen  millions  of  George  the 
Second,  inllead  of  increafing  to  ninety-one  millions  and  a  half» 
would,  at  feven  and  an  half  fir  cent,  have  extended  to  about 
an  hundred  and  thirty  millions,  feven  hundred  and  fifty  thoufand 
pounds ;  which  would  at  prefent  buy  out  more  than  one  half  of 
Our  national  debt,  and  fave  the  country  from  an  annual  burden 
of  perhaps yo;/r  millions  and  an  halffierling* 

The  mod  miferable  part  of  the  (lory  (lill  remains  to  be  told  \ 
but  the  particulars  muft  be  deferred  to  fome  future  opportunity. 
The  civil  lift  is  a  gulf  yawing  to  abforb  the  whole  property  of 
the  Briti(h  empire.  We  look  back  without  fatisfa^on^  and 
forward  without  hope. 

Lord  Chefterfield  informs  us,  that  George  the  Firft  was 
exceedingly  hurt  even  by  the  weak  oppofitioa  which  he  met  in 
parliament,  on  account  of  fubfidies  ;  and  could  not  help  com* 
plaining  to  his  moft  intimate  friends,  that  he  had  come  over  to 
England  to  be  a  begging  King.  His  vexation  was,  that  he  could 
not  command  money  without  the  farce  of  aiking  it ;  for  in  his 
reign,  as  at  prefent,  the  debates  of  parliament  were  but  a  farce. 
Such  were  the  liberal  fentiments  of  the  firft  fovcreign  of  the 
Proteftant  fucce(rion. 


F    I    N    I    S. 


